From Soldier to Hero
by Zinmaster24
Summary: What happens when a young soldier is given a second chance at life, but is charged with saving a world at the cost of that life? How will he deal with this new world? Come aboard and find out!
1. Chapter 1 A Second Chance

**Hey to all you cool cats and kittens out there. Its Zinmaster24 here and I have to say that I have been inspired to put pen to paper again. Or rather, in this case, fingers to keyboard and write out a new story that just would not leave me alone. It's going to be a Rising of the Shield Hero story and I will mostly be following along the web novel rather than the light novel or anime completely. I say this because that is what I have the most experience with the series from personally and I can look up more information on it readily unlike the light novel which I don't have access to. I also believe that the anime will be following the light novel as well as what the manga did too. So you'll need to bear with me as some things seem different or they may be scenes missing or added that you aren't used to. **

Disclaimer: I, in no way shape or form, own anything involving Rising of the Shield Hero other than my own original characters. I'm broke as a joke and don't need to be sued ya know?

XxXx

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 1: A Second Chance**

Hazel brown eyes opened to the sight of multiple sets of feet in front of himself. Blinking a few times the man pushed himself up to look at the people in front of him. They were all wearing what he could gage to be mage or priest like robes as if they were part of a cosplay convention. The male was soon on his feet a moment later as he found himself looking around the room he found himself in. It looked to be of a stone walled room that was part of a castle.

The very next thing he noticed that clutched in his left hand was a bow. It was a very ornate looking bow which seemed to be made out of some sturdy material from the looks of it. Then soon, he noticed that besides himself, there were three other people standing next to himself. Though, the three other guys were far younger than him by at least a few years and they were each holding a weapon as well, a sword, shield, and spear. But, his observations would have to wait as one of the robed men started speaking.

"Oh, great heroes, please save our world!" The robed man spoke with some excitement and desperation in his voice. "You must have many questions, but time is short. You four are chosen heroes that have been summoned using an ancient ritual." The man bowed after speaking his peace to the four of them.

"Summoned? Are you joking? Don't you guys have any shame at all for dragging us here without our permission?" The youngest looking boy with the sword spoke up while pointing his sword at the group in front of them. He couldn't have been any older than 16 years old from his looks. He appeared to keep himself in decent enough shape, as he wore a blue tracksuit. His features could best be said as being androgynous, but he was a pretty boy nonetheless. He had black hair, blue eyes with a sharp gaze, but his body language spoke of a different tune now that the man with hazel eyes looked closer at him. He played off being cool and a lone wolf, but he was rather jumpy and excited to be there.

The one with the spear followed the sword wielders lead next by stepping forward with a smug look on his face. "It's like he said, even if we do save your world, how do we know that you won't just send us back home once we're done without anything. That's paramount to slave labor you know?" This guy was fairly tall, almost as tall as himself, with blonde hair that was kept in a single ponytail and orange eyes. He gave off a confident older brother vibe about himself, but was also a pretty boy and had the looks of a skirt chaser. He was wearing a red jacket and white t-shirt with beige pants. The man with hazel eyes could judge that he was the most laidback of the other three.

"Wait… What?" The last young man replied rather completely surprised at either the fact that he was summoned to another world or how nonchalant the others were being about their situation. The man with hazel eyes couldn't exactly tell, but he noticed the shield strapped to his arm. He was tall, but not as tall as himself, and he had black hair and green eyes that appeared to be innocently lost on the situation. He wore a green, black, and white tracksuit and looked to be like something of a shut-in, much like he used to be.

As they continued to talk, the man with hazel eyes remained silent through most of the interaction instead choosing to gather as much information about his surrounding as possible. He soon noticed something in his peripheral vision and focused on it for a moment. It appeared to be an icon box that flashed a light blue color. He focused on it further and soon was taken aback as a screen popped up into his view with all kinds of information. Though because of how startled he was by this action, he took a step back which caused his black combat boot to thud hard on the stone floor beneath him.

'_What the fuck is this? Is this a status menu from a game or something? This looks extremely detailed, but a lot of it isn't something I haven't already seen before.'_ The man thought to himself with slightly wide eyes as he tried to process everything in front of him. However, he was kept from going any further into checking things out because of his previous action of having his combat boot thud on the floor as well as his dog tags jingling around his neck.

It caused a loud noise that broke up the flow of the conversation, and soon all eyes were on him. He gave a sheepish smile and had the good graces to nod his head in apology. With all eyes on himself now, everyone in the room all stared at him as if he had two heads. "What is it?" He asked with a slightly gruff and annoyed tone now as the stares were finally starting to annoy him along with the growing silence.

"Umm… Well we were wondering if you had anything to say, since you've been silent this entire time. Also, you look the most dangerous of us all here dressed as if you're in the military and have the guns and all." This came from the guy with the shield as he tried to speak, but his tone was uneasy just looking at the man next to himself.

The military man sighed and shook his head finally, dismissing the screen in front of him for the moment and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, whatever happened to us, we're here now and standing around trying to demand shit isn't going to change our situation. We need more information about what the hell is going on here." The man said turning to the robed men who took a step back in fear.

"D-Don't worry heroes! You all will meet with the king of our country, so he can tell you everything you need to know! Please follow us! You can discuss compensation with the king!" The main robed mage said with another bow as he started to walk out of the room with the others following behind.

The other three heroes looked between themselves and the tallest man of them all and shrugged their shoulders. The spear hero spoke up first with the same smug look on his face. "The person we talk to may change, but our demands won't no matter who we talk to." He spoke with a poorly hidden glee as he started following along with them.

The boy with the sword huffed with a mere nod of his head as he started to file out of the room followed by the young man with the shield. Soon after the military man followed along with the other three, but decided to give another look at the menu screen again as he walked behind everyone else to see the king.

[Status Magic Main Menu]

'_Status Magic huh? This menu is really like a game huh?' _The man thought to himself as he looked over the menu while walking with the others. He could see his name which was displayed as Tyrus Owens. _'There's my name and everything… Yeah, I don't really trust this place or the people so I'll be giving out a fake name. Hopefully nobody but me can see this menu right now.' _Tyrus thought to himself as he continued pouring over everything in front of him. He could see stats under his name that read, Class: Bow Hero Lv. 1, attack, defense, speed, and magic. There were numbers next to each stat that varied in number gap.

[Weapon Tree]

That was the next option in the menu that stuck out to Tyrus as he tried to pour over the information quicker as he looked up seeing that they were nearing a set of large double doors. Focusing back on the menu in front of him, he could see that there were tons of grayed out boxes in front of him. The only one that was lit up was the Legendary Bow that was still in his left hand. Thinking about weapons now, he could feel an all too familiar weight on his back and thigh. The standard issue M16 rifle was strapped to his back, and a M9 Beretta was holstered on display on his right thigh.

Before Tyrus could go any further into the menus, he was forced to stop as the four young men had all come to the large set of double doors. They would be meeting with the king of the country in a matter of minutes and he would need to give this his full attention if he wanted to find out what the hell was going on.

XxXx

The four men were led into what appeared to be an audience chamber that just screamed out 'fit for a king' with four thrones at the other end of the room. They had an audience waiting for them already of what seemed to be nothing but the royal court or noblemen and noblewomen, servants, and the king sitting on the throne.

The king looked to be in his mid to late 50s or early 60s with a gray beard and hair combination that was well maintained. He wore a very ornate purple, white, and gold robe and cape with multiple rings on his fingers. On his head sat a crown with a purple gem in the center and green eyes that were cold and calculated as he gazed at the four young men in front of him. "Oh? So these are the heroes of old?" The others may have not noticed the way the elderly man was gazing at them with disinterest, but Tyrus was no fool. He could spot how the man was going to try and manipulate them all into doing his bidding from a mile away thanks to his years in the military.

"I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. Raise your heads, Heroes." Aultcray spoke with authority, but seemed to overlook the fact that none of the four men in front of him had bowed to him in the first place. "Now I shall explain the situation for you all. This country or rather this entire world is own a direct path for ruin and damnation."

The Aultcray told the four heroes of a prophesy that spoke of something called the Waves of Calamity that would assault their country. If nothing was done about it, their world would fall to ruin and be destroyed. According to him, the prophesy was finally coming true after hundreds of years due to the inactivity of the sands in the 'Hourglass of the Dragon's Era.' But once the sands flowed again the people merely wrote it off as superstition until the first wave actually hit their country.

The country's knights and adventurers fought against the first wave and successfully defended against it. However, they suffered heavy casualties in the process which ultimately led to the decision to be made to summon the four heroes. The waves were said to become stronger which each one that happens.

Tyrus could say he wanted to believe Aultcray, but he could feel that there was information being withheld from the four of them. His years in the military had taught him to never trust any information that hasn't been varied by multiple sources. He especially took the lesson to heart after his unit had been betrayed and led into a trap that ultimately got them all killed.

After waking up in this world, Tyrus found that his memories were still intact as well as the military fatigues and weapons he was wearing before his death. Never again would he take information at face value that he couldn't confirm himself. So it was with a very hard stare at the king that tall and muscular black soldier accepted the king's words. He may have accepted them, but that didn't mean that he trusted them in the slightest.

"I see. So you expect us to just work for free then? That's convenient enough for you and your kingdom huh?" The boy with the sword spoke up while crossing his arms with a cold gaze.

"Yeah, it's really selfish of you all dragging us into your world against our wills like this. This is your problem, not ours what's in it for us?" The spear wielder backed him up on his claim.

This in turn caused Tyrus to turn his cold gaze to the two next to him while clutching the bow harder in his hand. "Will you two brats shut the hell up and try to analyze the situation you're in for once? I've had it up to hear with you two shit stains and your ridiculous need to act as if you have to upper hand here. It's only common sense that we would be compensated for our services here. But if you keep this up, what's to say that Aultcray here would find us to be too much trouble to deal with and have all the guards in this room try to kill us off to simply summon up a new batch of heroes?"

The other two looked at him in surprise before really taking in the man's attire and physical appearance. Tyrus was an extremely well built soldier despite his gray military fatigues covering most of his body. But it was plain to see that he worked out a lot and kept himself in fighting shape. There was a wicked jagged scar that ran from top to bottom on his right eye, but because of his dark skin color, it wasn't noticeable at first glance. There were tattoos that could be almost seen running up his neck and arms, but due to his fatigues covering his body it wasn't fully visible. Among the other three he looked the most and carried himself like a warrior that had seen the depths of hell in combat multiple times over and survived it all.

The two others were about to speak up but after really taking in his appearance and his gruff way of speaking, they actually stopped and noticed how many guards were in the room surrounding them. This stopped them in their tracks instantly and they really considered his words fully at that point.

The boy with the shield visibly paled and tried to salvage the situation at this. "W-Well this guy may have point guys. Maybe we should listen to the king here and let him finish huh?"

This caused Tyrus to turn his attention to the shield wielding boy and give an approving nod with a small smile now before he turned back to the king once more. His smile dropped instantly once he saw the detached look in his eyes again.

"The heroes needn't worry about that. You will be richly compensated for your valiant efforts in repelling the waves to save our world. Also you will receive discretionary funds to aid you all in your journey." The king said with the same monotone voice of authority as before to ease their worries.

Hearing this, the other three heroes visibly brightened up at his words, while Tyrus merely kept his gaze locked on the king seated in his throne. There was still no way that Tyrus was going to trust him until he had visible proof of his words.

"Now heroes, state your names so that I can commit them to memory of the ones destined to save our lands." The king called out with authority in his voice as he looked them over again, having noticed the way Tyrus was looking at him the entire time.

The boy in the dark blue tracksuit stepped forward and spoke first. "I'm first huh? I'm Ren Amaki, 16 years old and a high school student. I'm the sword hero it seems." He spoke in a cool tone trying to sound tough despite having lost a lot of his previous bravado from Tyrus tearing into him.

The blond haired young man stepped forward next with a smile on his face. "Alright, I'm next. The name's Motoyasu Kitamura and it's a pleasure to meet ya! I'm 21 years old and I'm a college student. I'm the spear hero from the looks of it."

Next, the tallest man among the four continued to stare at the king with calculated gaze as he spoke. "Codename, Zen. 28. Occupation was previously a soldier and now I'm the Bow Hero." His tone of voice brooked no room for argument as the king tried to stare a hole into him now. But, Tyrus didn't back down for a second as he stared right back at the king.

The boy with the shield finally stepped forward and gave a slight bow which largely ignored by the king for the most part. But he spoke up anyway, "Um… I'm Naofumi Iwatani and I'm 20 years old. I was a college student, but it looks like I'm the Shield Hero now." He tried to smile to lift the cold atmosphere in the room.

"So, Ren, Motoyasu and… Zen?" He tested the names in his mouth as he finally gave up the staring contest with the much younger man as he could tell he wouldn't relent.

"Uh king, you forgot about me?" Naofumi said with a frown forming on his face now.

The king slightly glared at Naofumi and shook his head. "My apologies, Naofumi was it? I won't make that mistake again." This didn't go unnoticed by Tyrus as he kept quiet during this interaction. It wasn't smart to antagonize kingdom, but it was probably stupider for the kingdom to antagonize the heroes as well.

Next they were instructed to check their statues and from the looks on their faces it seemed that only Ren besides himself was on the ball about this. Though, Ren didn't seem to be one to pass up the chance to look cool unlike Tyrus was.

Ren looked at the nervous faces of Motoyasu and Naofumi and scoffed at them. "Seriously? You guys haven't figured it out this much yet? Even Zen here looks like he knows what he's doing." He sighed and shook his heads at them.

Motoyasu scowled at him and pointed at him. "Shut up man! Just tell me how to check my status already. I don't need you trying to cut me down like Zen did too!"

Ren shrugged his shoulders with a sigh and smirked at him. "Fine. You should see a flashing icon in your peripheral vision to your bottom right. That should let you see your statues."

The other two did as instructed and found their screens coming up in front of them and found that they were only level 1 as did Ren and Zen beforehand.

Soon after, the king finished up with his speech and instructed the heroes that they would be starting their journeys separately tomorrow as the legendary weapons worked against each other and hindered the progress if they were in close proximity of each other. Tyrus confirmed this much as he found a warning sign appear in his vision after the king said it.

But the king told them that he would prepare them with funds and companions to start with to help them along the way. Which, Tyrus was immediately not a fan of in the slightest, though he didn't voice his opinion on the matter right of the bat. Discretion was the better part of valor in this instance, as he would take the money but not the cherry picked companions to follow him around and be useless.

Well either way, Tyrus would figure things out and find a way home so he could put a bullet in the backstabbing son of a bitch that got his unit killed. He had nothing but time and this was his second chance at life. He wouldn't waste it.

XxXx

**Ok and scene. Holy hell I was not expecting this chapter to run so long. I haven't written a fanfiction in forever, but I didn't know how to end this on a good enough note. I wanted to get through a little more, but I suppose stopping after the meeting with the king would be good enough for the moment. As you can tell, this will be an OC replacement of the Bow Hero. Also, I know what you may be thinking, "It's just a self-insert of the author." **

**To answer this question I would have to say no and yes if I were to be honest. I made the character up while only giving him a variation of my penname. Just think about it though, if you were in the military and found yourself suddenly being transported to another world after basically having your entire unit betrayed by one of your own, would you honestly trust anyone after that? I certainly wouldn't. But I hope you all will enjoy this.**

**So in conclusion, Ciao for now all you cool cats and kittens, Zinmaster24 out.**


	2. Chapter 2 Meet and Greet

**Yo, Yo, Yo! It's ya main man Zinmaster24 here once again to bring you more of what you wanted! Honestly, I wasn't expecting anyone to actually like my story here. I'm actually really blown away by how many people have favorited and followed this. Thank you all and I hope that I can keep this going for as long as possible. I can't make any promises that I will consistently update this, but I promise to do my best to deliver whenever I can. Now I'll answer the reviews that people have graciously left me! **

**Chayner: Yes, I can agree with you that both OCs and SIs have their merits. They can be used to great effect based on characterization. Also the character's name is Tyrus, not Tyrone lol. I'm glad you took an interest in story and I hope you enjoy it further! As for absorbing and feeding the bow, that will be covered. I might not do it complete justice but I'll give my best version of what I think would happen. **

**FearMeHorror: You are indeed right on that, however I didn't want to use an anime character and have to forcibly fabricate their personality and to fit my story. I would much rather use my own character and have more freedom to do with them as I desire. **

Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero. I could wish for it with all my might, and maybe one day it could happen. Till then I can only dream.

XxXxX

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 2: Meet and Greet**

After their first rocky meeting with the king of Melromarc, the four young men had found themselves led to a room to rest for the night. It was still fairly early in the evening and Tyrus was keen on the idea of finding out as much information as he could get his hands on. Though the bed that Tyrus sat on was comfortable as all get out, he couldn't help but feel nothing but tension in every fiber of his body.

"This is going to drive me insane." Tyrus muttered to himself as he looked through the menus to find any sort of solution to his problems.

He looked up from his menus to see the other three doing the same thing as him, and he shook his head. With a sigh he set the menu aside, opting to talk with the other three heroes.

"So, since we're here and all. We might as well get to know one another to some degree. It wouldn't do for us to be at each others throats." Tyrus called out to the other three, which caused them to look up from their menus to him.

"I suppose you have a point there, Zen. First, why do you start with telling us your name?" Ren spoke up first with a pointed look on his face.

"Yeah, if you want us to not be at each others throats as you say, then why don't you tell us who you are?" Motoyasu spoke up following on Ren's lead this time with a grin as he was getting fairly interested here.

Naofumi looked up with a smile and nodded in turn. "I can actually get behind the idea, but yeah I'm going to side with these guys on this one man."

Tyrus merely shook his head with a light sigh and shrugged his shoulders at that. He could admit that they had a point in that if they gave their names but he didn't it wouldn't do well if they couldn't trust him. They were all in the same boat and he knew that they would need to work together in order to survive this new world.

"I suppose you all have a point there. Sure, I can tell you my name, but _only_ you three and those I feel I can trust. This doesn't leave this room or I will kill you myself." He said standing up from his bed now to walk through the room.

The other three younger men watched with interest as Tyrus walked through the room at a slow and deliberate pace towards the only door to the entrance to their room. They found it quite odd as Tyrus picked up his leg once he was near the door and kicked it clean open. There were two screams that came from the open hall behind the door being kicked open.

Two people fell to the stone floor in fear and surprise as the door was kicked open. They could see the look of absolute hatred in the well-built black man's eyes as he stared at them. One of them was a royal knight and the other was a maid of the king. They were soon shaking in fear at him as if he would rain down his wrath upon them, which for all they knew he would.

"Get out of here you fucking spies. You two disgust me, and I will have none of you eavesdropping in on a _very_ private conversation. That is unless you want to lose your ears for the information you gain here?" Tyrus asked with no small amount of hatred in his tone for the two below him that were growing more terrified by the second.

The other three were stunned for a multitude of reasons at Tyrus's actions. They were surprised that he could so causally kick open the heavy door like it was nothing. They were also surprised to find out that there were people eavesdropping in on their conversation. But mainly they were a mixture of surprised and appalled that the Bow Hero would threaten to cut off their ears as well as kill them himself.

Suffice to say, this didn't sit well with the other three summoned heroes and it was Motoyasu that spoke out about this.

"Yo, Zen! That's going way too overboard man! Why would you threaten them just for simply eavesdropping on our conversation as well as threaten to kill us?!" He started to shout at the older man as he got up from his bed to walk over to him.

When he got close enough to him, he put his hand on his shoulder to try getting him to stop what he was doing. This was a mistake however as Tyrus instantly spun around and gave him a right hook straight to the face without any sort of warning. This sent the orange eyed younger man flat on his back with a grunt of pain that he wasn't expecting to happen at all.

"DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME, YOU BLOND HAIRED BIRTH DEFECT!" Tyrus roared out in complete rage as he stared down at the younger man for a moment longer before turning back to the other two.

He found that the two were nowhere in sight as they had bolted the second his eyes weren't on them. This was what he wanted from the beginning anyway and he sighed as he closed the doors again. But as he turned around, he found that both Ren and Naofumi were standing in front of him blocking his path.

"I don't know what your deal is, but attacking Motoyasu like that was completely uncalled for." This came from Naofumi first, as he didn't budge from his spot protecting the downed man that was slowly getting to his feet.

"You really need to cool it here dude. You're the oldest one of us all and you're losing your shit over something this minor? You want us to trust you after something like this? I thought you were better than this? I may not know what goes on in the military if you're a soldier as you say you are, but why would they let someone like you in?" This came from Ren as he narrowed his eyes at Tyrus now and crossed his arms.

"Ugh… Cheap shot you bastard. You got me with a sucker punch." Motoyasu said with a groan as he got back to his feet unsteadily now. He narrowed his eyes at the man as he could feel the difference in strength between the two of them.

At their words Tyrus merely rolled his eyes. The ship of trust between them was slowly leaving port and he knew it. A part of him didn't want to apologize to them, but he knew he was in the wrong for it. So it was with a sigh that Tyrus shrugged his shoulders at the three of them at first and walked past them towards his bed where he then took a seat.

"First of all, I should apologize to you Motoyasu. Naofumi was right that it was uncalled for to attack you like that. Second, it's funny that you say that, Ren. Why _would_ they let a guy like me into the United States Army is something I question every single day actually. But, then again the same could be said of any of the people that are there. I'm not the best guy around, but I'm also not the worst. Not by a longshot."

He set the legendary bow down next to him on the bed and clasped his hands together and let out a light chuckle now. The other three were still extremely wary of him and he knew it but he didn't necessarily care at the moment. There was nothing they could do to him, and everyone one in the room knew it.

"One reason I can come up with was at the time we were at war with Iraq and they needed bodies to fill in the ranks. I was only 12 at the time when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked. I doubt any of you were old enough at the time to remember that event, but maybe you had heard about it sometime later, eh?" He got a round of headshakes for his answer.

"Wait what? What do you mean the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked? I know I'm from Japan and everything but that never happened. There never was any war. Are you sure you're ok?" This came from Naofumi as he tilted his head in confusion now.

Ren nodded his head at him. "Seriously, are you sure you're ok? I know that the World Trade Center and Pentagon weren't attacked, but I can agree that there was a war. Didn't your President get assassinated during a United Nations Meeting? This was what sparked a war between the nations as nobody could figure out which faction did the assassination."

Motoyasu spoke up next. "Woah, hold on. Nothing like that ever happened! Are you three insane? Yeah, we may be from Japan, but let's get things straight here! There wasn't any assassination and there weren't any trade centers or pentagons being attacked at all. It was an invasion by another country!"

This caused Tyrus to shake his head at the other three with wide eyes. "Hold it. Everyone stop! None of this is adding up, so let's take a second to figure this out. First off, Naofumi, say that there was never any war right?"

This got a nod out of the young man as the realization started to set in on him first. "That's right. There was never a war or anything. Nothing happened."

"Ren, you said that the President was assassinated during a United Nation's meeting that sparked a war between several different countries right?" Tyrus asked for clarification as he started dreading the answer.

Ren nodded in turn as he could also see what Tyrus was getting at, and he didn't like it one bit as much as the others didn't. "Yeah, that's right. And by the end of it, it was determined that assassination was caused by a combined effort of Germany and Russia."

"And, Motoyasu, you said there was an invasion?" Tyrus asked now as his hazel brown eyes started to gloss over as his mind was running a mile a minute now.

"Y-Yeah. It was by the French. They struck you guys hard and fast. But they couldn't really keep up the attack and were repelled shortly after they started and eventually lost the resulting war." After having listened to everybody else, he arrived at the same conclusion the rest of them did.

"Gentlemen… We come from completely different worlds. Multiverse Theory is a bitch." Tyrus spoke with finality as he shook his head and looked at the three of them with a bit of dreaded realization in his eyes.

"No way. I figured we came from different timelines, but completely different worlds? That's wild." Naofumi spoke up as he finally walked back over to his bed and took a seat. He felt his legs had given out on him as the fact hit him as hard as Tyrus hit Motoyasu.

Ren and Motoyasu followed and sat down on their own beds as well looking at the others with a bit of a hollow look to them. It was scary for them to think that they had come from different worlds like they did and were dragged here to save this one.

Tyrus looked at the other three and sighed again. He was doing this too much and he could swear he could feel his black short hair and jaw strap beard were turning gray far faster than it should have. So he got back up, walked over to the door again, and checked outside of it. He couldn't see anyone around and he couldn't really feel anyone there either. So he shut and locked the door again then walked back to his bed.

"Alright. Motoyasu, I do apologize for punching you. It won't happen again unless you give me a reason to. But I don't like being touched without permission you see. I've been through two different wars in my world and have seen many men and women die. I've been tortured for information, and have been saved and had to save others. I'm no stranger to killing as well."

Tyrus spoke with something of a hollow tone that the other three heroes couldn't miss. They didn't dare speak though, as he was on a roll and was making a point. He was giving them an insight to his life and they were morbidly intrigued into finding out more about the new Bow Hero.

"Information is a necessity that can't be ignored at any cost apparently. It's important enough to kill someone over." He traced the scar over his right eye now as he could still remember the screams of his brothers and sisters in arms vividly. It caused him to involuntarily shiver with a mixture of rage and fear now. He felt like he needed to indulge in his vice immediately to quiet the screams, but he pushed it out of his head for now.

"I'll say this. I will… Trust you three. I want to trust you three. We're all in the same boat here. We've been dragged to another world against our wills to save it. This may seem like a game with the way this world has game like mechanics, but let's agree to one thing here guys. We don't know if we get a respawn if we were to die. Actually we have no idea what would happen if any of us die, and I'd like to never find out."

The other three looked at oldest man among them with different outlooks now. They could hear the hollowness in his voice as he spoke about himself. They could see the pain in his eyes as he tried to mask it, but failed to do so. They couldn't begin to imagine the types of horrors that the man in front of them had gone through in his life, and it caused them all to shiver as well.

"You all wanted to know my name right? You realize that if you tell anyone my name, and I found out you did. I will make good on what I said about killing you right?" Tyrus spoke with the same hollowness in his voice as he had to begin with.

The others nodded with baited breath now as they found themselves giving the dark skinned man their undivided attention. They also found themselves leaning closer to him as well to make sure they didn't miss anything he said.

"It's…. Tyrus. Tyrus Owens. Don't betray my trust like the last person did. I plan to get back to my world and put a bullet in his fucking skull." Tyrus spoke as he replaced the hollowness with a complete conviction in his voice now.

XxXx

**And scene! Holy fuck! This turned out completely different than what I was planning on going to do this chapter. But you know what? I'm actually happy with this however. I hope you all will be too. As you can see, Tyrus Owens is a deeply troubled man with a past soaked in war. He can and will kill and has no trouble doing it. He hates people that betray others. So take that into consideration when dealing with this man.**

**The other three heroes have come to find out that they are from different worlds. Instead of it being through the games they played, they found out through major world events that happened instead. Don't worry. I do plan to have them go over this sooner or later, but this was more about establishing the dynamic or at least the issue of trust between the four of them. **

**Also, I'm extremely grateful and blown away again by how many of you are actually enjoying this so far. I can't believe that anyone would follow and favorite this story of mine. But believe me when I say that I am absolutely floored by the responses from you all. I'll definitely give this my best effort possible!**

**So to all you cool cats and kittens out there. This is Zinmaster24 signing off. Ciao for now! **


	3. Chapter 3 You think this is a Game?

**Yo cool cats and kittens! It's Zin again bringing you more of what you all want! I hope you've all been doing this week. As for me, I've had my shares of ups and downs. Nothing major going on besides getting my pay from my job while looking for a job in my main field of study. It's a slow going process, but hopefully I can find something soon. But enough about that, its time for some review shout outs!**

**Chayner: Interesting as it may be, I hope I do it justice in all actuality. My style normally revolves around writing dark characters in general. I've never had much interest in the light-hearted and romance style of characters and stories. I will try though to keep Tyrus from being "Edgy" just for the sake of being "edgy." Tyrus will have outbursts and will have his share of strengths and weaknesses. He's just a man doing the best he can with the hand he's been dealt.**

**PJ Doungtal: I'm glad you enjoyed this and you won't have to wait for much longer for more, boom!**

**Theoneandonlyedster: Haha. I can't say that I'm inserting myself completely into this story. Think of it as a mixture between 2 parts myself, 4 parts my various friends, and 4 parts original characterization. It's an unholy amalgamation of an original character and self-insert that would make Dr. Marco from FMA turn away in disgust. If that makes any sense. I'm glad you're enjoying my horrible drivel so far though! And yes, Ren is a discount Kirito. Again, he's actually a parody of Kirito in the canon series.**

**Hercules8: Thank you! I'll certainly try my best to keep going with this for as long as possible. I just hope that I don't make my character crash and burn into the realm of "edgelord" because as it stands I feel he's walking the line of it right now as is. You'll get to see him in action soon enough, and hopefully I do a good job of it!**

**Deadly Instinct: Aha. I would say I'm glad you did catch the reference, but I gotta ask you if you mean about the World Trade Center and Pentagon part? I tend to make lots of references to other stories and events from time to time and can get lost in it. But yeah, if that's what you're referring to, then yeah that part was a direct reference to me. I was indeed only 12 years old at the time when 9/11 happened. I still remember it to this day even 16 years ago where I was and what I was doing. But thanks for the review and I'll try to keep this up!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero. If I did, I'd be living the high life right about now in privacy like Yusagi Aneko-sensei. I only own my original characters.

XxXx

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 3: You think this is a Game?**

It could be said that Tyrus Owens wasn't usually so vindictive, but one might be able to understand his position and his need for vengeance given his circumstances. The other three heroes were finding themselves listening to Tyrus's explanation of why the way he was.

"You want to put a bullet in some guys' skull?" Ren asked now far more wary that he had caught on to the fact that Tyrus had muttered out that last part. Albeit it wasn't supposed to be heard by anyone else, he had said it loud enough for at least one of them to catch it.

Tyrus went wide eyed at Ren's question instantly as did both Motoyasu and Naofumi. Let it be said that Tyrus was a straight shooter if questioned on the matter. It wouldn't do to dodge the question now that it was brought up.

"Well… fuck. Yeah. It's not just any guy though." He sighed again as he looked at the three gauging their reactions. "Don't worry. It's someone from my own world that none of you have to worry about. Remember what I said about information? I'll be frank with you all here. I plan to survive this world, stop these waves of calamity, get back to my own, and avenge my unit." He paused for a moment seeing that they were confused by his choice of words. He then remembered that for the most part, these three were regular civilians unlike him.

"When I say unit, I mean squadron or team members. Back in my world, or rather my military, we were a team that was put together early in our careers to join the Army Rangers. There were five of us in our unit…." Tyrus stopped midstride in his explanation and let out a low growl from his throat. "They didn't learn the lesson." He muttered darkly as the other three followed his gaze towards the door.

"Again? How can you even tell that anyone is there? And don't go overboard this time please." Naofumi asked as he watched Tyrus get up from his bed walking towards the door with purpose. He was getting extremely worried as he could feel his body tighten up for the oncoming confrontation again with eavesdroppers.

Motoyasu got up and ran in front of Tyrus blocking his path. "Wait, wait, wait! Don't go threatening them again over something this minor! Chill out. Let me deal with it this time. I get it man. You can't trust them because of what happened to you in your world, but we're supposed to be heroes that have higher standards here. You can't just go threatening people as you please over every little thing that upsets you."

This caused Tyrus to stop and look at the younger man dead in the eye. He could tell that Motoyasu was sincere about it this time and begrudgingly he had to admit that the blond man was right. He wasn't himself since he had woken up in this world. He was quicker to anger and prone to acting on those emotions of rage. He knew this wouldn't be good for him if this kept up, but he couldn't let it go. The pain of being betrayed and killed so callously wasn't something anyone could shake off so easily.

So, in the interest of trying to salvage what little bits of trust there was between him and the other three, he relented this time. The black muscled soldier simply nodded his head and walked back to his bed to sit down.

Motoyasu grinned at this and nodded in return as he walked to the door and opened it. Sure enough there were two more people standing there completely surprised at having been caught. It was another royal knight and maid, as they had been rather close trying to listen in on everything. Motoyasu was surprised at first looking at them, and then frowned at the both of them instantly seeing that Tyrus was right.

"Would you two kindly please leave us? We're in the middle of a discussion that nobody should really be listening in on. Or do I need to inform the king of your conduct about invading our privacy?" He said with a bit more bite in his tone than he intended to use, but seeing that they were listening in on someone's private life story did make his blood boil.

The pair nodded a few times in fear and bowed their heads. "W-W-We're sorry, Sir Hero! We just came to see if you needed anything to eat for dinner." It wasn't entirely a lie as the two bowed again. "W-We just didn't want to interrupt the heroes meeting was all! If you like we can bring you the food to your rooms right away and we won't bother you all again! Please don't inform the king about this! It won't happen again we swear!"

This caused them all to pause for a moment. They hadn't had anything to eat all day, and they were getting pretty hungry. It was still pretty early so they could use the food and use the time to share information and plan out their methods of training. Motoyasu nodded at the pair and sent them on their way, and it was about five minutes that they came back with food for them all eat.

Ren at in silence having taken in everything as best he could. It was a lot of information to adjust to for just one person, but he could understand before he decided to speak up looking directly at Tyrus. "So, I take it that from what you were trying to say earlier was that your team was betrayed by one of your own and now you want revenge for them, right?" He asked in between bites of his food. He had to admit that the food had a strange but good taste to it. He chalked it up to being a different world, and he would simply have to get used to it.

Tyrus nodded as he at his food at a quicker pace than the others. He had enlisted during wartime so he was trained to eat fast and be ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. "That's right. Naofumi, can you check to see if there's anyone at the door before we continue on with this conversation?" He asked seeing as the younger man was closer to the door than anyone else was.

Naofumi nodded his head setting his food to the side as he stood up to go check. "Yeah, sure no problem dude, but you might be a little overly paranoid here if you ask me. I get that you were betrayed, but you're here in this new world with a fresh new start. Are you sure you would still feel the same way later down the line once we win against the waves? I don't think anyone in this kingdom is out to get you or us for that matter." He asked as he opened the door and didn't find anyone. He closed it and locked it back going to take a seat.

Tyrus shook his head at the question as he could feel his blood start to boil over again. "Put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself that same question. How would any of you feel, if you were forced to watch as your friends were murdered in front of you? And, there was nothing you could do about it, as you were saved for last? To see the smug grin of the bastard that sold out his own comrades for his own gain, as he holds a gun to your head and then he pulls the trigger ending your life then and there. Could you honestly say that you would get over it?"

This caused the other three to stop eating long enough to take stock of his words. None of them could honestly say they could let something like that go. It would be too gut wrenching to let it go.

"Ok. You made your point, Tyrus. But still, that doesn't excuse you from lashing out at the first people you come across here. It's like Motoyasu said before to you. We're heroes here in this world and we do need to act like it, you know? What would it say about you if you were to kill someone out of misdirected anger? I can say though that I can somewhat sympathize with you as I ended up here somehow like you did." Ren asked having taken the conversation seriously now, trying his level best to talk Tyrus down from his growing anger.

This got Tyrus's attention now as he quirked his eyebrow at the youngest boy there. "Meaning?"

Ren sighed and shrugged his shoulders at the question. "Before I ended up here, I died protecting my childhood friend from a serial killer on our way home from school. I was stabbed while choking the bastard to death before he could kill her. The next thing I knew I woke up here in this world next to you all."

Motoyasu looked at them and let out a low hum as he at his food. "I can't say that I died a noble death like you two or anything. I… uh… Got into an altercation with my girlfriend and she pulled a knife on me." This caused a shiver to run through every guy in the room before Ren turned to him.

"Let me guess. You got caught two-timing huh?" He asked half-jokingly with a snort of amusement. But it died in his throat as he saw the look of bewilderment on Motoyasu's face.

"Women are scary." Motoyasu could only utter out meekly in response.

"I don't know if I died or not, but the last thing that happened to me was getting hit by books from a library shelf. I was reading one of them which was really similar to our situation now with the weapons we have on us. Then the next thing I knew I was on the floor next to you guys." Naofumi uttered out as he continued to eat the delicious food now. He said with a shrug of his shoulders while Motoyasu and Ren looked skeptical at him.

"Really? That's all? Just reading a book about this place? That sounds way too convenient." Ren said with a narrowing of his eyes at the older guy.

Motoyasu looked at him for a moment before looking back to Ren. "Well he is the shield after all."

Naofumi looked worried by that pointing at them now. "Wh-What do you guys mean by that? So what? I have to die to be accepted? And what do you mean that I'm the shield?"

This got Tyrus's attention however, as he picked up on a potential source of information that he would have liked to know. "Naofumi, you said that this book you were reading was about this world or at least this place we're in right? Then did it mention anything about our weapons here? Anything at all that could be useful to us?"

This got all of their attentions with widened eyes at such an implication. Ren and Motoyasu then looked back to Naofumi forgetting their jabs previously in favor of getting more information now.

"Well yeah. The booked talked about the prophecy of this world going into ruin to the waves and then it talked about the 4 heroes and their weapons. It went into depth about sword, bow, and spear heroes, but the rest of the book was blank when it came to the shield. It did also talk about a princess that bounced around from hero to hero who acted slutty towards them wanting their favor too."

Ren narrowed his eyes at that again as did Tyrus before for a different reason. "Well that's awfully convenient that the shield wasn't talked about. You sure you aren't holding out on us because you want a leg up in this game?"

Motoyasu followed suit on that train of thought. "We all know that the shield is the weakest class, but still man. There's no need to hold out on us like that man, this may be an MMO game like Emerald Online where the shield is useless, but there's no reason to not help us."

Ren turned to Motoyasu as Tyrus tilted his head, while Naofumi was in complete shock now. "Emerald Online? I've never heard of that game before and besides, this world is like the VRMMO Brave Star Online."

Motoyasu was about to shout but stopped himself. "Oh right, right… I almost forgot. We come from different worlds so our games may not match up. But still, Naofumi you should be tell us what you know. Every little bit can help."

Tyrus finally spoke up after having remained silently listening to the two argue back and forth. "Are you guys serious? Don't tell me you two are really treating this like a game. You think this a fucking game? Wait… let me ask you this. Do you this. Do you think that everyone you see besides the four of us are NPCs?" His tone was somewhat shaky as he dreaded their answers.

Naofumi was catching on to Tyrus's line of thinking and he looked mortified when the both of them simply nodded their heads in response to his question. Tyrus fears were met as he bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. He was beginning to seethe with anger at the two of them for acting so arrogant and ignorant.

"I can't believe you two." He started in a low shaky tone of voice as his body shook in barely checked anger. "How can you be this ignorant about this? What proof do you have that this is a game and we're just players here? Did you think about what would happen if you died? Or worse, had gotten someone killed under your leadership because of your negligence?" His tone was getting more even, but it was still low. "It never occurred to either of you that these, _**NPCs**_, could be living and breathing human beings like us?!" He was now starting to yell at the two again, his anger was getting the better of him as the Ren and Motoyasu were starting to see his point of view now.

"You want to test if this is a goddamned game?! Do you think that you will revive and respawn at a fucking checkpoint of save point if you die?! _**WELL WE CAN TEST IT RIGHT FUCKING NOW YOU FUCKTARDS!**_" Tyrus roared out as he instantly got to his feet and tossed the legendary bow out of his way and reached for his M9 Berretta that he knew was loaded and ready to fire. He pulled it out of the side holster and aiming it at the two of them. This was a major mistake on his part for one major reason.

The second he intended to use the gun with the intent to cause damage, Tyrus received a massive shock of electricity throughout his entire body that elicited a scream of pain and terror from him now. He couldn't do anything but drop the gun after a few seconds as pain intensified the longer he held his weapon. But the second he let go of the gun, the electricity that had locked up his body was gone without a trace.

The massive soldier fell to the floor panting in a heaving mess as he looked to his gun that was next to him, and then saw a message screen appear in front of him.

**[Warning! Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Contact with Unauthorized Weapon!]**

**[A Hero can't fight with anything other than the legendary weapon in his possession.]**

**Requirements Met:** **[Cursed Series Unlocked – Bow of Wrath]**

Everyone was stunned into pure silence and shock by what had just happened as Tyrus was slowly shaking off the effects of being electrocuted. His breathing was unstable and his mind was in just a bad a state. But he got back up. He picked the gun up and found that he didn't get electrocuted again just for holding it. It was as just as the message had said.

So long as he didn't intend to fight with the gun, he could hold it. But after everything that just happened, he thought it wiser to holster his gun again. He looked at Ren and Motoyasu, his blood was boiling once again at the two of them. But before he could say anything Naofumi spoke up.

"You should leave, Tyrus."

His tone was low and but steady. He had somehow found it within himself to speak up.

Tyrus slowly turned his attention away from the two of them and focused on Naofumi. It was dead silent for what seemed like an eternity before he sighed and nodded to the younger man.

"Yeah, if I don't I may end up killing these two for being ignorant. I know that this will spread like wildfire sooner or later with all of the commotion I caused. But I'll be prepared for that going forward. I'll see you all tomorrow at the meeting with the king so you can get your companions." He uttered in a low and even tone as he slowly started to walk towards the door to leave. He stopped at the door and turned to face the still shocked looks upon Motoyasu's and Ren's faces with Naofumi looking directly at him.

"I'll leave you all with a bit of advice. For your own good and those that will follow you in the future. _**Don't treat this as a mere game because there are lives are at stake here.**_"

And with his peace said, Tyrus opened the door and walked out slamming it behind him to leave the three young men to the rest of their meal in silence.

XxXx

**And scene! Ok. Yeah I know what you're probably thinking. There wasn't much action here and we didn't learn much about what he could do with the bow or its functions yet. I'll admit that yeah, I'm not the greatest when it comes to writing out functions and such in that manner. I'm not trying to stall to come up with a manageable looking system either. I do have ideas for that I want to introduce to Tyrus over time. You see, Tyrus is much like me in how he grows accustomed to games systems. He learns them piece by piece over time and comes to master it as much as possible. **

**This is going to be a slow burn type of story building upon itself. But I do intend to move things along so it doesn't take TWO FREAKING CHAPTERS just to get through this again. I know that other stories would have already blown past this already and had moved on to having Naofumi be betrayed and gotten Raphtalia by this point. But I like building interactions between characters and whatnot.**

**Tyrus is unstable. He is highly volatile and untrusting of others. War will do these things to a person, as well as being betrayed and watching what was paramount to his family be murdered in cold blood before being shot to death by one of their own.**

**Also, I know what you're probably thinking and the answer is yes. Tyrus can also have the Cursed Series Bow of Wrath. No, the wrath series of cursed shields are NOT exclusive to Naofumi alone. **

**Any of the 4 heroes in canon can have any of the 7 deadly sins cursed series weapons. It's just that the other heroes weren't dispositioned to rage/wrath as Naofumi was. I won't go into spoilers for anyone that hasn't gotten up to that point yet, but the other heroes are dispositioned to unlock other cursed series weapons based on their personalities traits.**

**So with that said. I hope all of you cool cats and kittens out there are having a lovely morning, afternoon, or night wherever in the big blue world you are right now. Leave a review if you like! It gives me more motivation to keep this going!**

**Ciao for now, peeps!**


	4. Chapter 4 The First Steps in the Journey

**What's up everyone? Its Zin here and I have to say that I'm sorry. I know you all want this story to pick up in speed and move things along. However, I find way more enjoyment out of developing character relationships and whatnot. That isn't to say however that this story won't be focused on the action, fights, and events that happen. It just may take longer to get there. I can understand if you all want to drop my story because of that, but I'll do my level best to find a balance between the two and deliver the best story that I can be happy and proud of as well as make sure you all are entertained. Again, thank you all for sticking with me thus far. You cool cats and kittens are amazing and have blown my expectations completely out of the water for how my crap is being received. And with that time for some review shout outs!**

**PJ Doungtal: Thanks for the review my man. Let's say that with Tyrus being as unstable as he is, he won't take it too well. But he does recognize that he's an outsider in a massive new world with its own set of rules that he has to follow if he wants to survive.**

**Pinkdog16: I'll answer your question with fact here. All guns throughout history are derived from the bow. That should answer your question friend.**

XxXx

**Chapter 4: The First Steps in the Journey**

Tyrus found himself in another spare room after having run into a maid in the halls of the castle shortly after he left the other heroes. It was painfully obvious to the dark skinned man that his initial hope of building trust between himself and the others had been shot to hell with how he acted. Though, at the time he couldn't help himself and he couldn't understand why that was he was losing his shit.

Could it have been everything that had happened to him previously seeking an outlet? Could it have been that his mental state was always this fragile that he would blow up in such a way? He wondered over everything as he sat in the room alone. He finally had the chance to be alone to really look at himself and take true stock of his situation.

Letting out a sigh, he sat on the bed trying to figure out how things went wrong. He remembered two days ago, that his team was sent out on a mission of recon and patrol. It was a standard mission, same as any mission they had before. They were stationed in South Africa after most of the war with Iraq was finished. His team was halfway through their patrol in the middle of the night before they were attacked. They were swarmed by the local rebels in mass and they were completely outnumbered and outgunned. It wasn't until he saw the man that betrayed them standing in front of him with the worst look of satisfaction on his face.

Tyrus closed his eyes as he remembered everything clearly. His blood was beginning to boil as he tried to rack his brain as to why it happened. Maybe it was there in his memories, but he had to face the fact that he and his team were betrayed and murdered.

XxXx

"_What the fuck is this all about?! Briggs! No way… You didn't… You fucking defected and betrayed us?! You sold us out?! Why would you do this to us, you fucking bastard?!" Tyrus roared out as he struggled against the three men that were holding him down. He could tell as the screams of the others around him were distinct in who was being attacked. He had put two and two together just as soon as his team was accosted with the massive amount of numbers in the perfect spot in the middle of nowhere at the right time of night. His team wasn't due to report back for at least another two hours, so that would give anyone ample time to attack and disappear back into the dense jungles._

_The man in question, Johnathan Briggs, simply laughed with a sick glee as he kicked him in the face with his boot. "That's right, _**Captain**_ Owens. I did. Why? Why the fuck should I bother telling you my reasons? It won't matter really if I did tell you. You and the rest of these useless wastes of garbage are going to die one by one. Watch as your little family is raped and killed off in front of you now. I plan to save you for last myself however." He laughed again listening to the screams of his ex-comrades as they were each tortured and raped for a while then it went silent one by one._

_The entire time, Tyrus was screaming out each of their names and screaming at Briggs that he would kill him with his bare hands. He was struggling to get free of the men that were holding him down, but there were too many on him. For every one he managed to throw off another instantly took their place to keep him locked down. "I swear, Briggs, that I will find you when this is over and murder you! I will survive this and I will watch the life drain from your eyes as I kill you with my bare hands! You can run and you can hide, but I _**WILL**_ find you no matter what it takes!" He clenched his teeth looking up the man that seemed to take pleasure in seeing the man beneath him starting to cry for his fallen comrades now. _

_Blue eyes met hazel brown for a few seconds, and then Briggs spat in his face. He pulled the pistol from his holster and put the barrel between Tyrus's eyes. "Well Cap, I'd like to say it has been a blast, but really, it hasn't. I've hated your guts from the moment I was put on this godforsaken team from day one. But, you know what? I'm game. If you can somehow claw your way back from death, I'll take you on just to put you in the grave again. I know you're a betting man, but even you have to see how much of a fools bet that would be to escape a bullet to the brain. I'm only sad that I get to do this once. Burn in hell for me though, Cap." With that, Jonathan Briggs pulled the trigger that ended Tyrus Owens's life._

XxXx

Tyrus opened his eyes after breathing deeply for a few moments. He couldn't find anything in his memories other than Briggs hating him from day one. But he couldn't figure out why. He did however, know that he was going to make good on his promise to find him and kill him. But to do that, he would need to survive this world first in order to have that chance to go back home. So that meant he would need to get stronger, and reign in his anger before it consumed him. But, he really wanted to also let everything go and start gambling again to relieve some of the stress he was feeling.

All throughout Tyrus's life, he had an extremely bad habit of gambling his and others money away. He wasn't terrible at gambling, he just did it too often and generally lost more than he won back for it to be worth it. But to him it was helpful to him in dealing with the stress he had felt since childhood. It started with the games he played with friends by taking on bets about which of them would win. He'd lose what little money he had or he'd win sometimes as well. But the habit persisted even into his teenage years and it got worse as he entered the military years later.

Tyrus's addiction to gambling got so bad that he was almost court martialed from the army and on several separate occasions had almost lost his life because of it. Tyrus knew that his addiction to gambling was his biggest weakness about himself. He knew that it would destroy him if left uncheck, but he was weak. It wasn't until he had been put on his team and promoted to lead them that they gave him the wakeup call he needed to control it. He owed his life to his team, his friends; to the people he called his family even more so than his blood relatives.

Thinking on the four… no. The _three_ people that had been there in his time of need, he was indebted to them to avenge them. Clenching the dog tags that were around his neck, he bit his lip only tasted dried blood from before as his self-injury had healed up quickly. He pulled the tags off from around his neck and looked them over. There were five tags total in his hands. There was one for each of his team members as they had decided to carry a tag of each of their names to always remember that they had become a family.

"Danial Anderson, Katarina Crews, and Pepper Sanders. You guys. I've failed you once even when you all pulled my sorry ass out of the fire and trusted me to lead you. I swear that I will get Briggs and kill him. This second chance at life won't go to waste. Maybe it's selfish of me to live solely for revenge, but it's the least I can do for you all. I can't let this go, but first things first. I need to figure out everything about this world I'm in and how to survive it. I can't do this on my own, but I need people I can trust and rely on." The hazel brown eyed man sighed to himself at those words and shook his head.

"No, that comes later. First I need to figure out what the fuck is with this legendary bow and how I'm going to fight with it. I know for a fact that all guns are derived from the bow. Also, from what I understand from the menus it seems this world runs on game like logic. Let's see if something like this would work first." Tyrus said to himself as he brought up his menu again. He looked through them all finding the main menu that showed his status and stats, the next was the list of weapons at his disposal which was still grayed out mostly with the exception of the another bow which was called the Bow of Wrath.

From what he remembered of that how that particular bow came into existence, he figured it wouldn't do him any good to use it, if the thing fed off of his emotions. So he wouldn't be using it any time soon for sure. Though, once he looked at it, the stats on it was impressive for the time being considering its absurd level of attack power for his level being so low.

Though, it did leave him with a thought about how to gain weapons for use. His previous statement about all guns being derived from the bow was an undeniable fact in any world, and he remembered from the various games he played that weapons could be created from copying other weapons as well as absorbing enough materials to create all new weapons entirely. So maybe it would be the same here? It was worth a shot at the very least and he needed a better way to fight that he was familiar with than just using a bow.

So with that thought process in mind, he took his M9 Berretta from its holster and grabbed the bow with his left hand. "Alright, so how would this work? Do I just hold them next to each other like this?" He pondered aloud as he touched the gun to the yellow orb in the center of the bow now. He watched with complete shock and fascination as the bow shined brightly in the room, and actually changed shape and form to become a carbon copy of his M9 Berretta with the yellow gem on display on the handle of the weapon.

"No fucking way. That actually worked?!"

A menu appeared in front of him letting him know that it had succeeded in copying the gun.

**[Weapon Copy - Complete: M9 Berretta (0/12) Rarity: Rare – Base Power: 40 Equip Bonus: +2 agility +1 power (unmastered) – Proficiency (0%)]**

Tyrus was floored at what he was seeing in front of him and what he was holding as well. He couldn't believe it at first, but he had to as he held the carbon copy of the weapon in his hand. It had the same feel to it as well weight as he looked the gun over in his hands more. Setting his own gun back into the holster on his hip, he spent the next ten minutes inspecting the gun to see if there was anything wrong with it. To his surprise there was nothing amiss about the copied weapon. It was as if he had went in to a gun shop and bought it completely brand new.

Thinking about it more, he went about taking the M16 off his back and copying that gun as well. He would definitely make use of this newfound strength of his. The dark skinned man had come to find that he wasn't completely behind the ball when it came to his weapons now. He could fight in this world, but more importantly, he could survive.

**[Weapon Copy – Complete: M16 (0/15) Rarity: Rare – Base Power: 55 Equip Bonus +4 agility +2 power (unmastered) – Proficiency (0%)]**

But, then another thought occurred to him as he copied the M16 as well, finding it to be a success too. From a lot of games that he had played in his youth, a lot of weapons became unlocked based on the material you fed into the main weapons. Tyrus didn't know if the guns he had unlocked could be modified, but that little project could come later if he had found a blacksmith in this world.

Setting the gun to his side, he found that the copied gun had the same yellow orb on the side of the stock of the gun now. The weapons were standard issue from his world and packed a punch dealing damage, but it seemed that in this world they were slightly weaker. He would need to field test them as soon as possible to figure out how the weapons would really work properly, and to find out if he needed ammunition to use them as well. But for the moment he was just happy with the fact that he could use his weaponry again without being shocked to near death.

Though, when he thought of ammunition and material it brought him back to reality. "Fuck. I can't exactly shoot this off in here right now to test it, but maybe ammunition won't be a probably with this thing. At least I hope so, if it does, I'm going to need a hell of a lot of materials and a skilled blacksmith to make ammunition for me. But that can wait… Wait a minute. I wonder."

Tyrus was half mumbling to himself as he thought up another idea while he was on the topic of ammunition and materials. He then unzipped his gray military camouflaged jacket and unclasped one of four pouches on his lightweight bulletproof vest. He pulled out a 9mm round and looked it over thoroughly for a moment. "I hope this works." He muttered to himself, as he was completely engrossed in his current idea.

He took the 9mm bullet and fed it into the yellow gem that was on the side of the M16 gun stock now. That seemed to have did the trick as the legendary bow turned gun started flashing for several seconds as a multitude of messages appeared in front of Tyrus back to back now.

**Requirements Met: [Glock 19 (0/10) unlocked – Rarity: Uncommon – Base Power 30 – Equip Bonus +3 agility +2 power (unmastered) – Proficiency (0%)]**

**Requirements Met: [M1911 (0/10) unlocked – Rarity: Uncommon – Base Power 32 – Equip Bonus +1 agility +1 power (unmastered) – Proficiency (0%)]**

**Requirements Met: [Browning BDM (0/10) unlocked – Rarity: Uncommon – Base Power 25 – Equip Bonus +1 agility **

Tyrus watched for what seemed like hours as the screens continued to pop up forever as he unlocked many different types of guns based off that one bullet he used. He had later found out that there were some guns that had appeared but were still grayed out from use as he didn't meet the requirements to unlock them yet. The guns that were barred from use required multiple types of materials to use which made sense to him. Multiple guns used different types of ammunition, so it would come as not too much of a surprise that he would need each type to have it as his disposal. He was fine with this for the moment however as he still had a lot of weapons at his disposal to work with.

Having found out that material such as bullets could be used to unlock weapons for him to use, he made a major mental note to search for all the raw materials he would need to make the ammunition for later. There was a small smile on his face at the thought of not feeling so powerless anymore. Though, that smile was soon replaced as he still had to test how the guns would actually work in the field.

It wouldn't do him any good to have these weapons available to be used, but couldn't actually use them in combat if they required a resource such as ammunition that may not have been readily available in this world. He needed to figure out everything as soon as possible, as well find a way to actually use the bow itself. When it came to wielding a bow versus a gun, the principles were essentially the same as far as Tyrus could tell, but there was a skill gap between the two that he couldn't deny.

The scar faced man had many thoughts about what to do in order to survive in this new world he was thrust into. But one thing was for certain to him, he would take things head on in this world and get back to his world. Then, he would absolutely find Johnathan Briggs and end his life. His goal was absolutely clear in his mind as he decided to turn in for the night to start his new journey as the bow hero.

"I'm coming for you, Briggs. You may have killed me once, but I will find you and I will avenge my fallen comrades. I said I would survive, and I will keep my word this time…"

XxXx

**And scene! Well there you go! You cool cats and kittens wanted to know about how the gun aspects would work, well I've given you a glimpse of it! Granted, it was an absolute nightmare trying to come up with a way to scale the guns power system as they operate under a different set of rules that aren't so clear cut and dry. That will make itself known later for sure to Tyrus. There will be advantages and drawbacks that Tyrus will discover down the line to using the guns, but as it is right now, it's what he's used to when it comes to fighting. However as the motto in the military goes "Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome" falls into play heavily for our protagonist. **

**Yes, Tyrus will be using a mixture of bows and guns later down the line, and I will say that the bows will actually be his heaviest damage dealing weapons because the bows aren't as finite as the guns are. But he won't abandon guns at all. You'll just have to bear with me on this for now.**

**So leave reviews if you like! Let me know what you thought of this and criticism is indeed welcome. I take things with a grain of salt as I try to improve my writing here for myself and for those that enjoy what I write. **

**So to all you cool cats and kittens out there, ciao for now! **


	5. Chapter 5 Companions?

**Oh boy, oh boy. It's Zinmaster24 here once again. How are all you cool cats and kittens out there doing today or night or whatever time of day it may be for you all? I'm doing decently enough myself here. Nothing major to report other than its feeling like my knees are shot to all hell and back. Luckily they aren't at least not to my knowledge.**

**Yo, yo, yo. Cats and kittens, I have to say that I'm super excited to have been acknowledged for my story by another author on here going by the name of theoneandonlyedster. His story "Rise of a True Shield Hero (Redux)" is really amazing if I had to weigh in on it. I've been having a blast reading their work so far and it only felt right to give him a shout out since he did one for me. Check his stuff out if you like my stuff. Now time for some reviewer shout outs!**

**RLTygurr: Yo cool cat! Thanks for the review! I've put a lot of thought into how I want to actually have his weapons work. There is some fine tuning and tweaks that I want to do as well. But, Tyrus will definitely not be overpowered unless it calls for it. But that would be an ass pull that I want to avoid. Also, I've been waiting for an update to your story "The Shielded Savior" for a while now. I hope that comes soon.**

**Deadly Instinct: Well think about it this way, the only reason Tyrus was able to unlock the M16 directly for use was because he had it available to be copied directly to the bow itself. If he didn't have the gun it would have stayed locked. Also, the gun won't become unlocked unless he has all the required materials to unlock it. In this case the primary bullet type and each bullet type the gun can use directly. **

**Lightningblade49: Yeah. I sorta actually skipped over it by accident in my writing about the slutty princess, but it will come back up later haha. Well, he won't exactly follow them around because he has his own objectives, but he will definitely interact with them and have his own adventures in the process. He's got his own goal he's after you know. Tyrus may be a troubled guy but he isn't completely heartless.**

**H3R0: Thank you, thank you cool cat! Let's say I've put a lot of thought into how Tyrus would react to the entire slave market and mistreatment of Shield Bro. I hope what I have planned leaves you fairly surprised when it comes up.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero. It kills my soul every single time I have to type this fact out that I don't own it. Aneko-sensei, I hereby usher you a 1 on 1 duel to the death for the rights to Shield Hero!

XxXx

**Chapter 5: Companions?**

Tyrus woke up the next morning bright and early the next more energy than what he was used to. He was by no means a morning person, but learned to become one out of necessity due to his time in the military. So he decided to go through his morning routine of sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, stretches, and a morning run with more gusto than usual. He didn't have the option of using weights since he was stuck in a castle after being transported to another world after dying in the previous one, but that was fine with him. He could adjust to that later by creating some makeshift weights.

However, it was on his jog in his full gear that he happened to come across a peculiar sight of Ren and Naofumi out and about in the royal garden doing a morning training routine as well. Tyrus stopped in his jog and quirked an eyebrow at seeing both younger men doing push-ups side by side as he walked over to them now.

"That's strange. I didn't take you two for the type to do physical training like this, or to be morning risers at all. It's not a bad thing since you'll need all the training you can get here if you ask me."

Tyrus had tried to greet them as he made his way towards the two now. He stopped by a rose bush as they stopped what they were doing, and looked at him with mixed expressions on their faces. There was still a hint of fear on Ren's face that he tried to cover up by trying to look tough again as if he wasn't afraid, but it was still there. Naofumi, however, seemed to be regarding the scarred man with an even but hard gaze as if trying to get a read on him.

"Yeah, we talked about it after you left last night. A lot of what you said made sense that we really can't treat this world as nothing but a game. I don't know if I could actually live with myself if I ended up getting someone killed while they followed me around." Ren stated with a click of his tongue as he stood up from doing his set of pushups now.

Naofumi got up as well and nodded while still keeping his gaze on the man before him. "Yeah, but still what you did last night was way too much. I still don't know if I can fully trust you after everything you've done to Motoyasu and Ren here, but I think you mean well at the very least." He grunted a little as he stretched out now from his workout. "I may only have a shield, but I'm sure there's more to it than just attacking. I have to defend the people that are with me so they don't die right?"

Tyrus nodded at that two of them approvingly before letting out a sigh of discontentment about what lead up to this situation in the first place. "Yeah, you're right about that. I know my actions can't be forgiven so easily a second time, so I won't ask for forgiveness from you guys. If nothing else, I do want you two to at least think about this place as if it were real. We have no idea what's going to happen here or what we're in for. We have no clue if people can be revived as if this was a game, and personally I'd rather not find out." It was then that another thought came to his mind.

"Where is Motoyasu anyway?"

"He's still asleep."

"Still sleeping."

Both Naofumi and Ren answered at the same time with frowns on their faces as they answered Tyrus's question. Both young men had tried to get him to get up to get in some morning training with them as well, but it didn't go over so well, so they left him alone in the room to sleep. This in turn caused Tyrus to frown as well, but he couldn't force the guy to do anything really if he didn't want to. That would just lead to more infighting and he was working on trying to control his own anger and problems as well.

"Alright, well at least you two are taking this a little more seriously, which I can appreciate. We are all in the same boat after all here, speaking of which. I'll apologize to you, Ren. Again, I don't expect your forgiveness for my actions towards you last night. It seems that coming to this world under the conditions I have has given me growing issues of anger that I need to deal with. It's like you said last night, I can't go around lashing out at anyone I come across that angers me." The large man sighed once more and shook his head in displeasure.

Ren was no doubt still wary of the larger and muscular man, but he would never admit that he was terrified of him even though he truly was. It wasn't every day that you had come so close to being casually threatened with death and then having it happened once and almost a second time. "Yeah, I'll hold you to that big guy… Um.. Zen right?" He had taken it to heart to not call the man by his real name in the open public as it seemed rather taboo for him. Honestly he could see the reason why after having seen two different sets of eavesdroppers last night.

Naofumi nodded at this having found his feet under himself with everything that was happening. After hearing Tyrus's story he could concede the point that Tyrus had it rougher than most of them there, with a major chip on his shoulders. But, he still had to agree with what Ren and Motoyasu had told him about needing to control his own emotions and not lashing out at innocent people. They all made mistakes but as far as he was concerned, there was no need to threaten to take their lives in anger like he had.

Tyrus for his part appreciated Ren trying to repair the bridge that was slowly quickly breaking, and this renewed his own efforts to do his part in repairing it as well. "Yeah, say what you will about me, but I can't exactly trust the people here. Maybe there are some good ones in the mix, but after everything that's happened. I'm not too keen on the idea of opening up to just anyone outright without a good reason. So for now, just continue to call me Zen please. But on that note I have to ask, what are your plans once you get your companions?"

This caused the both of them to pause for a moment to think about it. They had talked about what they were going to each do once they started, but forgot that Tyrus wasn't there for that part. This caused Naofumi to speak up first with a somewhat annoyed grunt in his voice.

"Well I plan to see if I can get a weapon to go along with this shield. I know I said that there is more to it than just attacking, but I don't want to be useless in a fight."

Ren nodded to him and spoke up next. "I plan to start leveling up immediately after we leave from here. I need to get ready for the wave as soon as possible after all."

This in turn caused Tyrus to frown at both of them for their plans. "While that sounds good on paper, there are flaws with both of your ideas that I can see. First off, you remember what happened when I threw my legendary bow away and I ended up getting shocked until I dropped my gun?" This got a nod out of both Naofumi and Ren not understanding what he meant.

"Well, I'm sorry to say it Naofumi, but you are stuck to using that shield. I received a message stating that it's a violation to wield any weapon other than our legendary weapons with the intent to use them in combat. Here, I'll show you, if you don't believe me."

Tyrus then took off the M16 from his back and held it out for Naofumi to hold. The young man looked at him skeptically before taking it. He grunted slightly as to him the rifle seemed like it weighed a ton. "What the hell? You carry this thing around like its nothing!" The man exclaimed as he set it up like he had seen in many previous shooter games that he played before.

"Ok, now try to aim it and pull the trigger. The safety is on, but you'll see what I mean soon enough." Tyrus said in an even tone as he and Ren watched the green eyed man do as instructed and then promptly received a shock from his shield.

"Ow! What the fuck?!" He couldn't help but shout out as he dropped the gun to the grass below him as with each passing second he tried to wield it the shocking got worse. And true to Tyrus's word there was a message that popped screen that popped up in front of him that told him of the violation of using another weapon. "You've gotta be kidding me with this. How can I fight with only a shield?! There's no way that can work out." He was starting to feel his own anger rise up, but decided to drop it for the moment as he remembered they were supposed to be getting companions later.

Ren watched with wide eyes as Tyrus moved to pick up his gun and holster it on his back again now. "Ok, so Naofumi is restricted to using a shield. But why shouldn't I go out to level up immediately?" He was far more inclined to believe the soldier now that he saw it happen twice in front of him.

Tyrus didn't disappoint with his logic either. "You can attack, yes. But what are you defenses like? If it is anything like mine, it would be piss poor. But, I make up for that by wearing this which apparently gives me a defense boost. Also, I dodge attacks rather than taking them head on." As he spoke to Ren, he undid his top and showed off a light ballistics vest he was wearing underneath. Normally most soldiers wore their vests over their fatigues, but he opted for a lighter one instead that he could wear under it. He personally liked having the freedom to be speedy in combat to get in close.

Ren grunted in annoyance but couldn't exactly find fault in the older mans' logic at all. He would have just gotten something soon after leveling up a little first. "Point taken I suppose. Fighting in only my street clothes wouldn't do me any good here so I guess I should get some armor first then."

Tyrus turned his attention back to Naofumi and grinned at the downtrodden young man now. "Hey Naofumi don't worry so much. I have a few ideas about what to do about your situation, though it's going to take time, money, imagination, and hardnosed work on your part. You can't let yourself be limited by what's in front of you. I found out last night after I left that our weapons can copy other weapons as well as absorb material to create new weapons." To emphasize his point, he pulled out the gun that was on hip now to show that it looked like the exact same pistol he had before, but it had the yellow gem shining brightly for them all to see right on the handle of the gun.

"No way…"

"You can't be serious."

Tyrus nodded to them both showing that it was indeed the same legendary bow letting them get a good view of it for a moment, then he changed it back to the gun he had before. "I need to field test this though, but as you can see there is far more to these weapons of ours than we know. We might only be limited by our current knowledge here."

XxXx

Soon after that Tyrus, Naofumi, and Ren were making up new plans to follow, as they walked out of the garden only to have run into a maid that told them about a breakfast that was being made for them. They all decided that they would eat in the dining hall, and as they walked in they met Motoyasu sitting at one of the tables and was already eating.

He looked over and went wide eyed as he pointed at the large soldier in surprise before coughing on his food which nearly choked him. "You, bastard! You dare show your face to me again after threatening to kill me not once but twice?!" He then pointed at Ren and Naofumi with just as much heat in tone as he did to Tyrus. "Ren are you insane?! What are you doing with the loser and the psycho?! I know there's no way that you could have forgiven him after what he did right?! That goes for you too, Naofumi! I thought you were more sensible than this despite being a loser with the shield!"

This caused all three of them to frown at the blond haired man, but Tyrus couldn't exactly fault him for what he said about himself. His actions could be seen as being psychotic as he did indeed threaten to kill them all before with Ren and Motoyasu twice. Though he still didn't like what he said about the others and he let it be known as he stood in front of him.

"Say what you want about me, but don't you dare think you can talk to them in that manner. I already apologized to Ren about that, and I'll apologize to you as well Motoyasu, again. But, I suggest you shut your mouth and eat your breakfast." Tyrus's gruff voice had a bit of bite to it that showed he didn't like this in the slightest and there would be hell to pay if it kept up. But, he was clearly restraining himself from getting too angry over this again.

Motoyasu growled and narrowed his orange eyes at him now. "Or what? You gonna threaten to kill me again, _psycho_? You've already done it twice so what's stopping you from doing it now, huh? Keep your damn apology. I don't want it." He spat at Tyrus's feet and stood up taking his plate with him. "See you later if you come to your senses, Ren." Motoyasu said as he walked out of the dining hall now.

Naofumi walked up next to Tyrus with a frown on his face. "We sorta expected this happen but I never expected him to blow up this much. He did say that he couldn't forgive you after that second time though, but I can understand where he's coming from."

Tyrus only nodded at that and sighed as he sat down to eat along with Ren and Naofumi as well. The breakfast they shared passed in awkward silence as they each had their own thoughts about what just happened.

XxXx

Soon after all four men were standing in front of the king of Melromarc once again, as he looked them over. Aultcray had dealt with royalty along with his wife so it he had become adept at reading people somewhat over his years. He could clearly see that there was animosity going on between the four heroes to some degree, as well as the rumors about what happened with the bow hero and his threats.

"Heroes! I must thank you again for agreeing to aid us in our time of need. I know that we may have pulled you from your own worlds, and I am deeply sorry for this, but rest assured that if you save us, it will be well worth it!" The oldest man there spoke in a booming and direct tone of voice. Soon there was a loud knock on the door behind them.

"Yes, it's time for you all to begin your journey to grow strong and fight the wave. But rest assured that you won't be alone in your struggles! I have gathered capable adventurers to aid you all in your fight!" Just as he spoke twelve people walked into the room through the door behind them.

They ranged from shady looking types to adventurers and mages, and even a paladin was thrown into the mix. The other three were impressed by what they saw, but to Tyrus he only grimaced at them all.

'_The cherry picked spies meant to keep tabs on us for the king.' _

Tyrus thought to himself as he looked them all over. He noticed that they had decent enough equipment on them for beginners, but there were one or two among them that looked like they had been in actual combat before from the way they carried themselves. He could see potential in a few of them but most of them clearly weren't ready for real combat.

As he looked them over he caught sight of a red haired girl with green eyes looking him over with what he could tell as hungry eyes. But instead of looking bashful about it, she simply gave the scarred man a flirtatious smile and waved at him. He passed her over, but didn't respond in kind towards her. He had already determined not to trust any of them from the outset, and seeing an overly flirtatious redhead wasn't going to change his mind in the slightest.

"Future champions, it is time for you to choose which hero you will follow!" The king called out, which got all four of the young men to pause with wide eyes at this.

'_Fuck! You're shitting me! There's no way I'm letting any of these fuckers near me! They get to choose who they want to go with?! Fuck, fuck, fuck!' _Tyrus was in a panic at this point on the inside. But on the inside he schooled his expression after letting the initial shock wear off as did the others.

As they walked behind them and settled in they had come to find out that Motoyasu had four followers that consisted of all women which included the red haired woman. Ren had four followers as well that were a mix of men and women, and Tyrus had the four remaining followers with one woman and three men. That left Naofumi with no companions at all to which he voiced his concerns instantly.

"W-What?! Why didn't anyone want to come with me? You can't honestly expect me to fight by myself can you?!" Naofumi pleaded to everyone in the room as he looked around to anyone willing to listen to him.

"Oh my, I didn't expect this to happen at all. Not a single person willing to go with you." The king said with a hidden glee in tone that went unnoticed by everyone but Tyrus. "Surely there would be at least one person that would be willing to go with you?" He asked to the entire group now.

Tyrus narrowed his eyes as he watched as the woman with red hair raised her hand and stepped forward. "I'll go with him, your majesty." She called out with a smile aimed at Naofumi as he breathed a sigh of relief now at having at least one companion.

"Would there be anyone else willing to help the Shield Hero?" The king called out to which Tyrus seized the opportunity to rid himself of the spies. He hated the idea of pawning them off on Naofumi like this to throw him under the bus, but he had figured the young man could still use all the help he could get regardless.

"Yeah, right here. Naofumi can take every one of my companions. I don't need them as they will only slow me down. Add on to the fact that Naofumi only has a shield and one other person right now. He can't exactly kill them and with just one person it would be rough on them. " Tyrus called out bluntly as that stunned everyone else into silence at his words. The king frowned as the others behind him took a step back in pure shock at being called useless.

"Surely you jest, Zen-dono. You can't mean that you intend to go things alone yourself either. It's as you said, even with Naofumi-dono having one person he at least stands a better chance than you do alone." Aultcray said with a deepening frown on his face as he watched the man in front of him cross his arms.

"I'll be blunt then. I'm a soldier. I'm used to fighting far more than anyone in this room besides you, King Aultcray. I can tell just by looking at these four behind me that they can't keep up with my pace, and I have no intention leaving Naofumi out to dry. They would be better served helping him than me. This is a big world from what I can tell, and I will put together a team myself that I feel can keep up with me." Tyrus spoke with absolute authority on the matter as everyone stared at him in complete disbelief now.

The king narrowed his eyes at him which Tyrus returned in kind. "What you say may be true, Zen-dono, but I can't in good faith let you go out alone. I can find other soldiers that can meet your standards if that is what you would prefer then."

This caused Tyrus to shake his head slowly. "No, as I've stated. Anyone you pick will only slow me down. I will find my own team and that will be the end of that." He then turned to the four behind him and gave each of them a hard look now. "You four, you have two options. Either go with the shield hero or leave. None of you will be coming with me."

This caused the king however to frown even further as he could tell that the dark skinned man was correct. But, he couldn't let them know that he had picked them based on their loyalty to the church of the three heroes. "Fine, as you wish then, Zen-dono. However, do not disrespect me or my court ever again or there will be heavy consequences to pay."

The four adventures looked between the king and Tyrus and simply walked out of the room without a word. This caused Tyrus to frown heavily as he shook his head at them when turned around and noticed the others looking at him with complete shocked looks on their faces.

Ren, Motoyasu, and Naofumi were at a complete loss for words as they remained silent throughout the entire interaction. They knew that Tyrus could be outspoken and blunt but not to such a degree as to say that they couldn't be of any help to him like that. Or that he could outright challenge and silence the king like that. But, they couldn't find any sort of flaw in his logic either. It was true, the man had far more experience in combat than they had since, they could clearly see his scar on his face as well as the guns he carried. But it was also the gait with which he carried himself that also gave away his combat prowess.

"Very well then, please give Naofumi-dono and Zen-dono a slight increase in funds so they can find themselves more companions to help them in their travels. From here on the fate of the kingdom of Melromarc rests on the shoulders of the four legendary heroes!"

With that said, four maids stepped forward presenting the four young men with heavy sacks of coins. Motoyasu and Ren both received 800 silver coins while Naofumi and Tyrus received 1200 silver coins.

It was then that the four men filed out of the throne room followed by their companions that Aultcray let out a sigh and waved his hand. The room was then cleared out leaving only himself there. "I want you to shadow him. I want to know his every move." He called out to seemingly no one, but as he spoke a figured appeared from behind one of the pillars of the room.

"It shall be done, my king. I will also keep the church of the three heroes informed of this as well." Spoke a feminine voice as he soon disappeared from the room followed by the king himself after nodding to the woman.

"I must inform the queen of what has happened here." Spoke another feminine voice as she dropped down from one of the banisters of the roof and quickly exited the room as well.

XxXx

**And scene! There you have it cool cats and kittens! The king and Myne make their moves. So does Tyrus! He's going at it alone but will it stay that way for long? Who knows! Only I do of course. This was longer than usual, but I wanted to try and speed things up and move things along or we would never get anywhere with this. I hope you all enjoy this story so far!**

**And please, by all means leave a review if you like! It really helps me to grow as a writer if I know there are things that I need to improve on or there are some concepts that do and don't work. Still, again, I'm absolutely floored by how many of you have enjoyed my story so far to have favorited and followed it. I'll keep this going for as long as I can! Thank you all once again!**


	6. Chapter 6 Information Network

**What's up cool cats and kittens? It's Zinmaster24 here once again to bring you another chapter. I've been trying to keep to a schedule of at least one chapter a week. I can't make any promises about that being a certainty though, as life must take a priority. But I'll do everything I can to deliver things in a somewhat timely matter. **

**I do have a question though. I have an idea of how I want to end this story of our boy Tyrus Owens journey through the world he finds himself in. But, would anyone be interested in seeing the story of this character continue on? As in, once this story ends would you want to see Tyrus be part of another story? Would you want to see Tyrus teleported to another world to take part in that and building up from here? Let me with some reviews or PMs. I'll take things into consideration while I continue to write this story. And now for some review shout outs!**

**Qinlongfei: I thank you for your reviews to my story so far, and I have to say that I can understand where you're coming from. I've put a good amount of thought into how I want Tyrus to interact with the world, and how the world will interact with him. Tyrus is focused on revenge and will do what he must to accomplish his goal, pure and simple. That is a major aspect of his character that will not change even if people don't like it. That's what I want for the character I have created myself. Tyrus Owens will be a flawed character and he will face the consequences of his actions when he makes a decision. I will write him as I see fit to do so. I do however take everything you've said with a grain of salt as you've given me some ideas and things to consider. Once again, thank you for your review and I hope you still find enjoyment in reading my story.**

**Guest 1: Thanks for your review even though I have no name for you here. Yes, you are correct that American soldiers are taught martial arts. However, the martial art that the soldiers are taught is more of a defensive disarming style to get a gun away from an opponent. Karv Maga is meant to basically fuck up a person through any means necessary… Now with that being said, Tyrus is a vicious fucker that does know martial arts and might just fuck up a certain red haired bitch. And well, he COULD use grenades by simply pulling the pin fast enough and throwing it away from him before the legendary bow could punish him for using a different weapon. But, think about it like this for one second. What if the legendary bow decided to be pissy and still shock him anyway and he ends up in the blast radius while being shocked anyway? The risk would be too high, but they might make an appearance later on.**

**VGBlackwing: Thanks for your review cool cat! You know, in the web novel, Naofumi does actually end up getting a discus type shield later on. But the problem is, it was used a mere Frisbee rather than a weapon. I have something planned for Naofumi that's going to give him options that I hope you'll like later on. I have multiple ideas that I want to try out that might make things better for shieldbro in the future.**

**Guest 2: Thanks for the review coot cat! "A hero with common sense other than the shield hero? What sort of black magic or blessing have I been gifted with?!" So says Queen Mirelia.**

**Lightningblade49: Oh you best believe he's going to be calling bullshit on the rape accusation. There's no doubt about that. HOWEVER, I've put a lot of thought in how I want this to go. There's a LOT of things I can do with this scene, and I have some ideas about it.**

**Theoneandonlyedster: Ahaha. Tyrus vs Motoyasu. Yeah… Let's go with that for now. Think about it this way. As Tyrus said to Aultcray. He won't be slowed down and none of the people there would be able to keep up with his pace. This applies to more than just combat. He also doesn't have spies restricting his movements. So he's more or less free to move as he pleases. But rest assured that he won't be some overpowered super soldier that can do everything on his own.**

Disclaimer: Must I really say this? We know I don't own it and I'm too much of a hack writer to ever own a series and make money off it. But still, I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero. I'm still waiting on Aneko-sensei to respond to m dual to the death for the rights!

**XxXxX**

**Chapter 6: Information Network**

Having made their way out of the castle and exiting towards the gates, the four heroes and their parties decided to have one last word with each other before setting out on their separate ways. This is where we find Tyrus talking to Naofumi that with his red haired companion next to him. The soldier looked down at the both of them with even expressions on his face as he regarded them both with a slight lingering regret that he couldn't help the young man more currently.

"Alright Naofumi, you be good and take care of yourself out there. Remember everything we've talked about before. When we can find the time and a good enough blacksmith to do so, we'll see what we can do about your situation. Also, I'm sorry I couldn't get you more companions to help you out back there, but it is what it is I suppose." Tyrus grimaced at how the four that wanted to follow him walked out without a single word at how he gave them option before.

Naofumi just shook his head and gave a slight smile at seeing how Tyrus was truly trying to help him so much. It brought some confidence back to the younger man as he did remember what they talked about before. "It's ok. At least you offered to do more than the others did. Myne and I will manage though, and we have the money given to us by the king to find more companions after all. So we aren't completely left out to dry. We'll we don't have long to sit around and chat all day. We need to get moving. See you later, Zen." Naofumi said as he turned to walk off.

The red headed girl, Myne, bowed to Tyrus with slightly seductive but friendly smile on her face as he turned to leave as well. "You won't need to worry, Bow Hero, I will do everything I can to help the Shield Hero succeed even if it's just the two of us. As you heard from the Shield Hero, my name is Myne, Myne Sophia, and I hope you can rely on me as well in the future against the waves." With that the red headed woman turned and followed after Naofumi without another word.

This left Tyrus with a mixture of emotions and thoughts after meeting her formally. But, he couldn't quite place it though. She was indeed overly friendly like he had first thought she was when their gazes met in the throne room, but he could tell something was off about her. She never once called Naofumi by his name, nor did she call him by his given name as well. It's not like she didn't know either of their names though, because he was sure she had heard it more than enough times to remember it now.

Another thing about her that set off an alarm in his head about her was the way she tried to be so friendly. Tyrus had met overly friendly people in his life, and how they could be naturally outgoing. While this alone wasn't overly off-putting to the man, it was how she tried to be overly flirtatious with him as well. Her eyes were hungry for him as if he were a piece of meat ready to be eaten. Tyrus was no stranger to women that had ulterior motives due to his time in the war and past girlfriends. But, he didn't have any proof to go off of other than a hunch so he could do nothing but leave it be for the time being.

Shaking that thought off he decided to see Ren as he was talking to Motoyasu. As he walked up to the two, Motoyasu caught sight of the taller man, then narrowed his eyes at him but made no move to leave or attack.

"So what do you want this time, psycho? Come to threaten to kill us again? Or did you come to gloat about how you're some sort of super soldier that can handle everything on his own?" Motoyasu started out with a heated tone to his question that wasn't missed by anyone within earshot. The blond had no qualms with trying to instigate a rise to fight out of the man from this point.

Ren for his part was aggravated with how this was going and was about to walk off without saying anything, but decided to attempt to break things up between them. "Motoyasu, can you stop it already? Zen did sucker punch you, which wasn't cool in the slightest. Yes, he did threaten to kill us, twice mind you. Yes, Zen was being an asshole towards us, but to be fair we did set him off as well. But, trying to goad him into a fight with you isn't going to solve this though."

This caused Motoyasu to stop and turn to Ren with a wide eyed look. "What? You're saying that despite all of that, you're forgiving him? Why would you forgive this jackass for threatening to kill you, _twice_, and proceed to follow through on the second time?!" His voice was rising with each passing second that he spoke as he was getting angrier and angrier at them both to which Tyrus hadn't even spoken yet.

Ren just rolled his eyes and shook his head at the older man next to him. "Will you be quiet for a second and listen? I haven't forgiven him for what he's done to us, but I'm willing to give him a chance to make amends for it with his future actions. You need to think with a level head about this for a second. Would you want to make an enemy of a man that clearly has far more fighting experience than both of us combined, or would you want him on our side?"

This caused Motoyasu to stop for a second and regard Ren's words. There was a flash of understanding in his eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly as he turned to Tyrus with hatred in his eyes. "Let me punch you. There's no way I can forgive you or trust you, but you owe me that much at least."

Tyrus listened to everything in silence and regarded it all. He still couldn't be angry at Motoyasu for how the younger man was feeling. He had indeed done some pretty terrible things within only a day of being in that world. Threating to kill people and cut off their ears for eavesdropping. Tyrus had a problem with anger now and he needed to fix it. Maybe this was the first step to that? Maybe this could lead to trying to repair things with Motoyasu in the future? He didn't know, but if it meant he could use this as a way to eventually get home then he would do it.

"Ok. Go ahead."

Motoyasu and Ren were slightly taken aback by how easily the large man agreed to this. But Motoyasu decided that he would take this chance to get him back if only a little. So rearing his fist back, he let the punch fly with all of his built up strength and it landed squarely in Tyrus's unflinching face. There was a loud impacting noise as Tyrus only grunted in pain from as he took it head on.

There were gasps from the two parties that had decided to watch the conversation play out between the three heroes after hearing the Spear Hero raise his voice early on in it. Although they kept their distance to invade on to listen out of fear of things turning violent against them. They weren't prepared to see the Spear Hero punch the Bow hero right in the face. There were instant murmurs going on between the people as they didn't know what to make of the new development, but Tyrus stood there with an even but slightly pained expression on his face.

"You good, Motoyasu?"

Tyrus asked as he could feel a nosebleed coming on from being punched in the face. He fought down the urge to retaliate as he normally would have with anyone else that had gotten in a shot on him like that. Motoyasu however was completely flabbergasted as he couldn't believe he got away with what he just did, but he could feel and see the blood on his knuckles so he had no choice but to believe it.

"You really are a psycho, huh Zen?" Motoyasu finally decided to call him something other than psycho. To Tyrus, that was a start to repairing that bridge for later. The blond haired man was having completely mixed emotions as he shook his hand out now. Punching him felt cathartic, but it also hurt him as well as he put everything he had into that punch.

"I still can't forgive you for what you did, but this… this at least makes up for punching me before. See you later, Ren." With that said, Motoyasu turned to walk off as his party of women followed along with him.

Ren shook his head watching everything and looked to Tyrus with an even expression on his face. "It's like I said before to him. I can't completely forgive you. But, at the very least you're willing to make amends for it, and I can respect that. So I'm willing to try as well if you are so I'll be going to buy some armor. See you later, Zen." Ren then collected his party and walked off.

**XxXxX**

Tyrus soon found himself walking through the streets at a quick pace after having cleaned himself up from being punched in the face by Motoyasu. The scarred man found himself at his first intended destination of the day which was the Church of the Three Heroes. The gaudy looking church had a sword, bow, and spear on the points in plain view for all to see, but it was missing the shield. He found it odd and would need to explore the reason for that later, but he had a few guesses as to why it was missing.

Walking in, he looked around seeing multiple nuns and priests walking around but they all seemed to stop when they noticed him. He sighed having adjusted his gun to become the legendary bow once again so it would be easy for them to recognize that he was the bow hero. He walked through the building till he found what appeared to be the head nun.

"Hello, I'm the Bow Hero and I've come to see the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era. I was told by King Aultcray that the hourglass would tell me how much time was left until the next wave came. I'd like to see it so I'll know what sort of timeframe I have to work with and how strong I'll be able to get." Tyrus decided that playing the hero card would have to be the best method to get what he needed as he adjusted the bow on his back to show off the yellow gem in the center of the weapon.

The nun nodded to him and turned around to start walking in the direction of the hourglass. "Right this way, Sir Hero. Of course you can look at that the hourglass, you are absolutely necessary to save us. We are your humble servants here to help you in any way we can."

Tyrus followed along as he soon came upon the hourglass in question. It stood at height of seven meters tall, and was in pristine condition. The most striking feature was the fact that the sand inside of it was red. Tyrus didn't know what to make of it as he stood in silence just marveling at the ornate piece in front of him. But that changed as he decided to take a step closer and then a message popped up in front of him.

**[Registration complete. Remaining time until wave:**

**29:15:30**

**29:15:29**

**29:15:28]**

"So it's true then and only a month away until this wave hits? That's rather soon, but it is what it is I guess. I'll need to get my ass in gear and get ready for this." Tyrus muttered to himself as he thought about his next course of action from this point now that he somewhat confirmed that the king wasn't lying about the waves. It didn't clear up everything however as the king was still only concerned with his own kingdom rather than the entire world.

As Tyrus was engrossed in his thoughts, he completely missed the presence that had come up behind him now and tapped him on the shoulder. This caused the man to slightly jump as he had a quick flashback from the war. When he turned around the man had a gun to his head with a devilish smirk on his face ready to put a bullet between his eyes. His PTSD was pretty bad as he still couldn't forget the atrocities he had committed and seen during his service.

But he had to push that out of his head quickly as he turned around slowly as his muscles coiled in quick preparation for a fight if need be. Only he came face to face with a man in what appeared to be a pope or high priest outfit. He let out the sigh of relief that he had unconsciously been holding and addressed the man now.

"The hourglass is very beautiful, don't you think, Sir Hero?" The pope asked as he gave Tyrus a warm and friendly smile with closed eyes.

'_Ok, this guy gives me the absolute creeps. I definitely can't trust him.'_

Tyrus thought to himself as he nodded at the man's question before voicing it. "In a way it is, but it's more ominous if you ask me with the way the sand is blood red. I came to check a few things out here to see if there was any more I could learn about what I was up against in the waves. At least I've learned how much time I have before it actually happens."

The pope continued to give a comforting smile as he nodded to the man. "I understand, the waves are terrible thing indeed, and we will be counting on your strength to keep us safe, Sir Hero. I would like to chat with you more, but I'm sure you don't have time to be standing around here all day. May the holy bow be your guide to everlasting salvation, Sir Hero."

Tyrus nodded once again keeping an even expression on his face as he felt nothing but anxiety around the pope. "Thank you, I'll do my best to keep the people safe so I'll be on my way out now."

XxXxX

Tyrus let out a few deep breaths as he quickly walked away from the church. He had never been so thankful in his entire life to have left a church as quickly as he had done just now. He definitely didn't like that pope and wanted nothing to do with him. He couldn't understand why he felt so nervous and skittish around him, but it just hit him with a bad wave of unease that he wanted gone as soon as possible.

Soon enough the tall man found himself in what appeared to be the main market street of the capital. He slowed his pace down somewhat to take in the sights and sounds of the busy merchants and customers, but he could see people gazing at him as he was clearly an oddity among the relatively short citizens of Melromarc. He easily stood out among them all for the sheer height advantage he had over them all, as well as his clothes and color of his skin.

Tyrus didn't mind it however as he generally didn't care for the public opinion even back in his own world. He could be considered self-centered, but he believed that the concept of group mentality was faulty for a number of reasons. He looked around however and noticed that the shops had signs that he couldn't read the words. It was obviously the native language of the kingdom, but he would need to learn a new language fast if he wanted to get anywhere in this world.

He could push that to the side as he needed more information and fast. Picking one of the shops at random he entered it to find himself staring at books lining the walls. There were bottles of different shapes and sizes with various different colored liquids inside of them. As the door closed behind him, he heard the bell chime as a short older woman in a witches garb look up from her book now.

"Welcome to my magic shop! How can I help you today young man?" She asked with a bright smile on her face that Tyrus found to be infectious as he smiled at her in return. She closed her book and sat up in her seat to fully address her newest customer.

"Well, I'm just looking around getting my bearings you see. I'm not from around here, and just looking for information that could help me out in the future. Maybe you could help me out?" Tyrus asked with his guard still up. He could admit that he liked this woman far more than the pope, but he couldn't exactly go about giving out unneeded information to just anyone.

The older woman let out a light chuckle as she watched the young man come up to the counter now, and shook her head. "Well dear, I can say you can be at ease here. I don't plan on causing you any harm, Sir Bow Hero." She then had a laugh at Tyrus's expense seeing him do a double take at that. "Word and rumor travels faster than you can keep up with here in Melromarc, my dear. Most of the time it can be pretty reliable even more so than the reported news as well, but anyway how can I help you today?"

Tyrus simply sighed and shook his head and gave up at staying discreet, but he knew he never had a chance to being with all things considered. He pushed the thought from his mind as he addressed the older woman again now. "Ok, you got me, ma'am. But, I will say that I'm not a fan of rumors and hearsay, as I'd much rather deal with the truth and facts if possible. If the rumors have already spread, then I'm sure you know my name right?" He got a nod as a response from the ever smiling witch in front of him.

"Of course, Zen I believe it was? Well either way, that is neither here nor there, so what can I actually help you with, dear? I'm sure you would like to know about magic since you came here right?"

Tyrus thought about it for a moment and nodded. He could take the time to understand what he could about magic and anything else she was willing to offer him. So he spent the next hour or so in the witch's shop finding out about his magic affinity to wind, and learning about the different levels of magic and how to actually cast magic itself. Tyrus had taken everything to heart as quickly as he could, but knew that it would still be a slow process to actually learn it all and memorize everything.

The witch had come to enjoy the company of the bow hero in her shop and teaching him the things she knew. She was surprised to find out that he had such a heavy affinity for wind magic, but was even more surprised to find out that he couldn't read the language in her books. She offered to teach him the language for a small fee to which he had declined at first, stating that he wouldn't have the time to learn it right now with the wave so close at hand.

"Ma,am. You've done more for me than I could have ever asked for from you. I will surely be back when I have more time to learn magic. I know the other heroes could benefit from your shop as well, and I will gladly pay you for what you've given me. It isn't much but here. Please accept it." Tyrus stated as he proceeded to pull out a hundred of his silver coins and placing them the counter in front of the woman.

She let out an airy laugh as her violet eyes went wide at his statement and actions. She shook her head and pushed the pile of coins back towards him. "Oh dear, while I thank you for that, I possibly couldn't take that much money for something as simple as teaching you the basics and your affinity. Having your company has been an absolute delight for me, despite the rumors about how you _threatened to kill the other heroes and cut off the ears of a royal guard and maid._" Her smile turned somewhat sadistic as she stared the younger man in the eyes now.

This caused Tyrus to panic inwardly now. He knew that would come back to bite him in the ass sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to have come back on him this soon. This would definitely teach him a lesson about how to conduct himself in the future if he lived past this. Outwardly he only widened his eyes, and schooled his expression before it could turn dark on the woman before him now.

"I… See." He sighed now resigning himself to his fate wanting to avoid trouble with the magic shop owner. "Name your price."

She let out a giggle and shook her head. "Come now, dear. Did I say I was going to do anything? But, I do want to know your real name, and to know that you won't ever threaten someone like that again. It's rather unbecoming of a fine young man such as yourself and I'd hate to see you go down such a dark path." She said losing her smile somewhat now as she gave him a serious gaze now.

Tyrus hesitated greatly and stared the older woman in the eyes now for the longest time trying to get her to give up on this, but she didn't back down. He sighed again and shook his head slowly. "Fine… My name is Tyrus. Tyrus Owens. I'll try to not threaten anyone anymore." He sulked slightly at having given his name out to the shorter and slightly pudgy lady.

The witch regarded him with an even expression in silence before smiling once more. "My name is Matilde Melrose, and it's a pleasure to formally meet you Tyrus Owens. I do expect you to come back to my shop for future business and I will be holding you to your word from now on."

Tyrus nodded at her and pushed the silver coins back her way anyway with a defeated smile on his face. "I understand. Here, take it as thanks for the lessons and I'd like to ask you about where I can find the best tailor, potion, and blacksmith in town. Any and all information would be really helpful to me." He said with the same defeated smile on his face, as he knew he would have to own up to his costly mistakes in the future. This woman had just taught him how much his actions actually weighed on him and how costly it could be in this world. He couldn't let his anger get the better of him again or it could be far worse the next time.

"Hmm.. Well the best potion shop would be that old crone a few stores down. His name is Brenham and while he's an extremely skilled apothecary, he isn't one for much conversation. If you're looking for a tailor, you're going to want to find that young lass Tammy. She's fairly young but extremely passionate about her tailoring work and just as skilled. You can find her shop at the end of the merchant street, last one on the right. As for a blacksmith, I'd suggest going to Elhart. That boy is the best smith I've seen in an extremely long time, but he's not actually a native from this country surprisingly. I heard he comes from the East somewhere."

Tyrus nodded to the Matilde gave her a smile. "Thank you Matilde. If it's not too much trouble, can I ask that you don't tell anyone my real name? I know it's an odd request, but I would really appreciate it if you could keep this between you and me."

The woman gave off another airy laugh and waved him off. "Don't worry, dear. Your name is safe with me. I only listen to the gossip, I don't start it. Now go on. I'm sure you have other business to attend to. But, I better not hear about you threatening anyone for no reason again."

**XxXxX**

Tyrus had moved on from meeting Matilde to the apothecary Brenham. He had come to like this older man much more than both the king and the pope that he had met earlier. Brenham was a straight shooter if only grouchy like Matilde had first warned him. He learned that Brenham had also heard of the rumors as well but didn't really care for them so long as the younger man didn't threaten him or his family. He would treat him fairly as any other customer when it came to buying and selling his wares.

Tyrus then moved on to finding the tailor and found that he liked her energy and passion for tailoring clothing. The second he walked into her shop and she saw him, she had let out a scream and assaulted the man with numerous questions about his clothing. The soldier was all too happy to answer her questions as he knew that he would need her help for clothes later down the line. She also didn't care much for the rumors that she had heard of the man, but she knew of them as much as anyone else had.

**XxXxX**

"That takes care of Brenham and Tammy. All that's left is to meet this Elhart guy and see what the situation is about my weapon and go from there." Tyrus muttered to himself as he stood in front of the weapon shop now looking at it from the outside. He could see some of the weapons and armors from the large window, and knew that they were of good quality just from a glance. Walking in, there was a bell chiming as the door closed behind him now.

This prompted a muscular bald man to come from the back with a wide smile on his face to greet his newest customer. "Welcome! If its weapons and armors you're after, you won't find any better!" He greeted with a hearty laughter before it died down looking at the customer now. Elhart visibly scowled at the man before walking to his counter to as Tyrus walked up to counter as well.

"So it seems that the bow hero has decided to come to my humble little shop huh? What? You here to threaten me into giving you my stuff if you don't find my prices to your liking?" The bald man didn't waste any time letting Tyrus know that he knew exactly who he was. Tyrus visibly winced at this that Elhart didn't miss, but he wouldn't let up on the younger man.

Tyrus for his part was still coming to terms with what he did, and he could understand that preconceived notions of a person in this world weighed far heavier than his own. He understood that now, and had redoubled his efforts to deal with his anger issue. "No. Not in the slightest. Yes, I did threaten people before, but I'm working on that. I've already promised Matilde to not let it happen again, and it was thanks to her that I found your shop in the first place."

Elhart stood up to his full height now, but realized that he had to look up slightly to meet Tyrus's gaze as the gun toting man was taller than himself. "Is that right? That sweet little lady sent you to me huh? Alright, I'll bite. What do you want?" He spoke in a gruff tone of voice as he eyed the younger but heavily scarred man in front of him now.

"Well that depends really on your skill. I was told that you were the best blacksmith she's seen in a long time, and I have no reason to doubt her as she's been right thus far. What can you tell me about this? Is it something you've seen in your world here?" Tyrus asked now as he laid out his three firearms across the counter now for Elhart to look at. Two of them were his original weapons he came to the world with, and the last was the bow transformed into his Berretta with the yellow gem on the handle. Tyrus also took out a few magazines of ammunition and laid them on the counter as well.

The man went wide eyed as he looked the three weapons over and magazines of ammunition now. He could tell that they were something not of this world, or at least were extremely new prototypes from the kingdom of Faubley. "Well, you certainly are one of the legendary heroes, eh bow boy? This is a firearm from what I understand about them, but I know we don't have anything this advanced here. At least nothing this advanced I'm aware of anyway." He muttered the last part more to himself.

Elhart then looked up to Tyrus with a curious gaze on his face. "So what do you want from me if you have these? Though, I'd imagine why as the shield boy and sword boy came by here as well earlier today. I'd imagine that you have something in mind huh?" He asked having decided to drop his earlier heated tone at the prospect of working on something for this man in front of him.

Tyrus gave him a grin in response to his questions as he held up his sack of silver and dropped it on the counter. "Well, as the best blacksmith in the kingdom, I'd imagine you could help me out, or do we have to tell Matilde that her appraisal of your skills was off the mark? Don't worry because I fully intend to pay you for your time and effort. I can tell you already don't like me, which is fine, but I'll be honest. I need a talented blacksmith and I'd rather have that got that lady's seal of approval over some random hack. That is unless you truly don't fit the bill?"

This caused Elhart to quirk his eyebrow at the young man as he stood up again. He had forgotten that he wasn't taller than this guy and he was just as muscular as himself. Damn it. He didn't like the fact that he couldn't outright intimidate this guy with his size alone. But level wise, he was far stronger. "Ho? Well look at you. Coming into my shop with that attitude of yours and calling my skills into question? I should knock you out cold and toss you out for that, but you're lucky that you've piqued my interest, bow boy. So what is it that you actually need huh?"

Tyrus's grin dropped slightly at the way this man had continuously called him bow boy. But, to be fair, he hadn't exactly introduced himself to the man yet. "I have a name…. It's Tyrus Owens." He grumbled out at first, as this man had reminded him of his old team member Danial Anderson. They were both good men, but they had a way of grating on his nerves on purpose. "Well, as you can tell I use firearms, I was wondering you could make the ammunition for them and possibly more weapons for me as well? This won't be a one-time deal though. I still actually need to field test this legendary bow itself."

This caused the older of the two to quirk his eyebrow at him at how he spoke. "Oh? You're actually giving me your name instead of that codename you gave King Aultcray? Well, Tyrus, I'm Elhart and it's a pleasure to meet you. You're not what I was expecting you to be from the rumors I'd heard about you. I expected you to use these weapons on me to threaten me into giving you stuff. But, I'm pleasantly surprised that you're not that much of an asshole in person."

Tyrus's eye was twitching at this point and he could feel a migraine coming on from dealing with this prick in front of him. But, he bit his tongue and let out a sigh at the way the man was needling him now. "I'll take the compliment for what it is, Elhart, but maybe you can understand where I'm coming from on why I gave him that name right? I'll be honest with you here for a second. I don't trust him and his royal court. For whatever reason it felt like he was hiding information from me and the others when we were first summoned here. If I feel I can't trust someone, then they won't be getting much from me at all." He tried to talk down his mounting irritation at the situation.

This prompted Elhart to stare at the scarred man dead in the eyes in complete silence as he crossed his arms in front of him now. Gray eyes met hazel brown as he wanted to judge the young man in silence for the moment. "If that's the case, why did you tell me your name? For all you know I could be your enemy. I can see it written all over your face, kid. You obviously have trust issues but I won't pry into that right now."

Tyrus grunted slightly at that affirming that he indeed had issues that he needed to deal with quickly. "You're honest. You're a straight shooter much like that old coot Brenham. You seem like you'd rather deal with an issue head-on than skirt around the topic. I can appreciate it even if it does aggravate me to no end how you can seemingly get under my skin so easily. You remind me of a very dear friend of mine that was almost like a brother to me. Even if you and him are both pricks for the same reason of being able to get under my skin, it helps to keep me grounded and level headed. So I want to take a chance in trusting you Elhart. Also, I really do need a skilled blacksmith and looking at your items, you really are amazing."

Elhart rubbed the back of his shaved head and grinned at the younger man now, before letting out a laugh at him. "I see. Well it takes a prick to know an asshole, you know? I've lived a long time and seen many things, but I like your honesty, kid. It's rare to see that these days especially from one of the four heroes. Well I can certainly help you out but it won't come cheap that's for sure."

That was how Tyrus spent his first few hours in this new world once he was free to move about as he pleased. He wanted to build up a network of reliable sources of information should the need arise. He had remained in Elhart's weapon shop for the next few hours going over everything he knew with the man responding in kind. However he was unaware that he was being followed around.

**XxXxX**

**Ok and done. Again this seems slow but I'm trying to pick up the pace as best I can. Next time though, there will be action! I promise! I hope you all enjoy this so far. I was going to have Tyrus meet and greet all the important shop owners but it ran longer than I wanted, so I decided to cut things down some so it doesn't become bogged down. Let me know what you all think about this so far. It will help me out greatly. **

**So ciao for now, cool cats and kittens!**


	7. Chapter 7 Guns and Penguins

**Hey all you cool cats and kittens out there! I have to say that I didn't think I would be typing this out so soon. I hope you all are doing well out there. I actually had a little time and I got the motivation to write this out. For those wondering about my actual writing process, I'll take a second to explain. Because of my current job, I don't work a set schedule, so I'm left with days where I will or won't have time to write anything or do anything. I also babysit my niece and little brother most days as well.**

**But I'll generally try to shoot for uploading at least one chapter a week. I can't make any promises on this though, but I'll at least give you some sort of timeframe for it. As for my process, it's nothing typical. I generally have a planned out idea of what I want to happen in the chapter, then literally sit down and type it all out in one or two shots. I do all of my spell checking on the spot and try to keep things cleaned up as I go. Things don't always go completely as planned as I don't write anything down or take notes. I usually just plan it all in my head and make adjustments as I write it down. It's sorta like I'm just "winging it," but there is a method to my madness.**

**It would literally drive me more insane than I already am if I had to write everything out twice. I may actually start keeping notes on important aspects of my story such as how mechanics will work. Also this reminds me, I'm also going to be changing how the legendary bow will work from now on. I will be removing the "base power" aspect of the weapons in favor of simplifying the process. The weapon itself will be streamlined to work off of Tyrus's stats and the bonuses will be added to his stats as well. I've always been terrible at math, so this will make things that much easier for me to keep track of everything in the future. Now for some reviewer shout outs!**

**Theoneandonlyedster: As I've stated in my message to you before, I'm going to stick to "Elhart" rather than "Erhard." It's what I found in the web novel as well as it flowing better for me personally. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm sticking to my guns on that. Ha. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed what I cooked up for Elhart and Tyrus. Elhart will feel more like an older brother to Tyrus than anything that is good natured but just likes being a dick to him. Also, I read your chapter to your story Rise of a True Shield Hero (Redux) and I fully enjoyed it. I don't agree with Itsuki's theme song choice. That song is too damn good for him if you ask me, but that's just a personal thing really. It's my favorite song of all time lol and it doesn't really fit Itsuki. At least on a surface level anyway. Thanks for your review so far though cool cat!**

**Da Stronkest Ork: Hey there cool cat or kitten! Thank you for the review, but I'll be honest. I have no idea what you said. So yeah, thanks regardless!**

**VGBlackwing: Defend him he shall. I'm still thinking up how I want to handle this scene as it's an extremely important scene for the entirety of the show itself. It sets up the world the heroes are truly in, and where they actually stand. How the world reacts to them, and the entire theme of the show. I just hope I can do it justice in the end really. Thank you for your review so far cool cat or kitten!**

**Hawa-chan: Thank you for your review cool cat or kitten! While Tyrus, Motoyasu, and Naofumi are technically adults, it's hard to say that any of them are sensible really. Especially Motoyasu and Tyrus for different reasons. You have to remember, that Tyrus is basically driven by the need for revenge and that can lead to terrible choices for terrible reasons. Also the man has very bad PTSD from going through two wars. That will be coming into play as you've already seen a few instances of it in my previous chapters. Motoyasu is an idiot stuck in his own delusions of grandeur and thinks he's without consequences in his actions until it hits him hard enough. Naofumi on the other had come into this world thinking it was a game, but had his naivety ripped away from him in one fell swoop. He smartened up quickly after realizing just how shitty the world was and didn't want it happening again.**

Disclaimer: You know it. I know it. Aneko-Sensei knows it and probably laughs his/her ass off about that fact. I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero….. On with the show… I'm gonna go cry in a corner now.

**XxXxX**

**Chapter 7: Guns and Penguins **

Tyrus Owens didn't believe he was petty man, but he had come across many people in his life that outright told him differently. This thought had come across his mind as he was walking out of the blacksmith's shop with a half-smile on his face, though he was extremely annoyed with the older man.

"If you break my shit, I'm breaking your ass you bald bastard." Tyrus said without any real heat in his tone, but the smile was still present on his face. This only prompted the man in question, Elhart to roll his eyes and shake his head at the younger man and grin right at him with crossed arms.

"I'd love to see you try it, bow boy. Just don't come crying to me when you're on your ass knocked out cold later. We both know I'm stronger than you, brat. You may be slightly bigger than me, but I've fought bigger shits than you on my worst days." Elhart let out a loud laugh at Tyrus's expense when he saw the man visibly deflate at their strength being called into question now.

"Keep laughing, you prick. I'll get you back one day for that." Tyrus just huffed as he stopped at the door for a moment before exiting the shop. "Oh, you said that the shield and sword heroes came by your shop right? Did either of them put in a special order like I hope they did?"

This caused Elhart to nod with a grin. "Yep, sword boy said he wanted armor, and he just got light leather to start with. While the shield boy put in that special order and got himself some chainmail and his partner a new sword. Their signatures are on the equipment as well if you feel like you want to verify it as well."

This caused Tyrus to stop and turn around fully and rush back up to the counter. "Wait a second. What do you mean by signatures, as in receipts on the equipment or your own brand signature? It shows who the owner of the equipment is and where they got it, if it was bought?"

"Yeah, of course. What kind of idiot blacksmith wouldn't add their signature to their work? Without that anyone could just claim someone else's hard work as their own. I'm sure you have this concept in your own world right? If not then what the hell is wrong with the people there?" Elhart let out a huff at that and shook his head mumbling about talentless blacksmiths.

Tyrus shook his head and laugh out a humorless laugh at that. "Yeah, you're right that we do have blacksmiths in my world that brand their wares. I just didn't think it would apply here, but then again, I should have known better considering the quality of your works. If I were a blacksmith and sold off my stuff, you could bet your ass that I would definitely want people knowing where they got the stuff that saved their asses too."

The bald man let out another laugh at that before making a waving motion. "Yeah you're right about that. But enough about that for now, I'm going to inspect your guns to see what I can learn from them as well the ammunition you've given me. You need to go field test that legendary bow of yours, _bow boy_." He finished with a smirk that Tyrus didn't miss.

Tyrus then proceeded to give him the universal middle finger as he grimaced and started walking out of the shop. "You know what Elhart? Fuck you, Anderson, and everyone else that thinks they can look down on me simply because you're older by a few years! All of you must have gone to the same school and learned how to be an asshole like no other! I've already beat Anderson's ass and you are next on that list! Start counting the days until it happens, because they are numbered! You hear me asshole!"

Elhart for his part was in complete laughter at that and slammed his fist on the counter with a grin on his face. "Oh, I hear you brat! Bring it whenever you feel like it! I'll beat your ass left, right, and center any day of the week you're feeling like you want to try me! But for now get out of my shop!" He continued to laugh as he watched the younger man walk out of the door, but soon stopped after a while. "Tyrus Owens the bow hero, huh? For as old as you are, you still can act like a kid at times. You'll go far here, but I just hope you don't lose yourself along the way."

**XxXxX**

Tyrus soon found himself outside of the castle town and in the open grass fields that surrounded the castle towns. Taking the gun out of the holster on his hip, he looked it over once more. The yellow gem was embedded on the side of the holster staring back at him, and he grunted at it. It was finally time to field test this thing to see how it would operate. It was the weapon copied M9 Berretta he had on him this time, as he had the extra magazines in case he needed it.

Walking out a ways into the field, he soon saw a few red flashing icons appear in his field of vision. Seeing them move at a high speed in front of him through the grass, he could see the enemies appear before him. They looked like orange balloons with angry faces that wanted to maul him to death. So it was with narrowed eyes that he started running to the same speed as the balloons as he took aim at them with the gun.

He squeezed the trigger as one of the balloons jumped at him with its mouth open ready to take a bite out of him. There was a loud bang that was familiar to the soldier as he watched the bullet fly through the air and hit directly into the mouth of the creature, then out the other side of it into the ground. The balloon burst into pieces as a screen popped up in front of Tyrus indicating that he had gained one experience point from killing the balloon.

But, he couldn't exactly stop and celebrate as he had noticed there were at least five more balloons trying to murder him by eating him. He only grinned as he took aim and fired five more times in quick succession. With each shot that rang out, there were five sounds of popping sounds of the monster balloons. Tyrus then saw that he had gained one experience point for each kill. Coming to a stop, he let out a small sigh as he could hear the ringing in his ears he had become accustomed to over the years.

"So it fires just like a real gun does. It has the same consistency that the bullets normally do, at least on these orange balloons. They are balloons though, and they pop with a single shot so I'll need to test this on something a little stronger. But it seems that it doesn't consume any ammunition. That's actually a relief if not a little cheap, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." Tyrus muttered to himself as he decided to keep going with his field test, but he had to stop as he noticed the remains of the orange balloons on the ground.

"Hmm.. It worked with the bullet before. It should work with these as well." He muttered as he picked up the remains and fed it into the yellow gem of his legendary weapon now. He then fed it into the bow and watched as the telltale screen popped up in front of him now.

**Requirements Met: [Orange Bow (0/10) unlocked – Rarity: Common – Equip Bonus +1 agility (unmastered) – Proficiency (0%)]**

Seeing this caused Tyrus to think about everything he had seen so far. He had come to see that, unless materials entered into the bow were designed for a gun, it would default to a bow type weapon being unlocked. That was fine with Tyrus as he would need to better understand how the bow worked in order to get stronger to fight the waves and survive. He then noticed that in the corner of his right eye there was movement once again amongst the grass.

Grunting to himself, he readied his gun for another fight and he wasn't disappointed as he found more balloons appearing in front of him again. This time there were red balloons mixed in with the orange ones that were coming in ready to take a chunk out of him. So he took aim and fired on all nine of the round creatures. With each pull of his trigger there was a gunshot then a resounding popping noise going along with it. Then there was the telltale sign that he had gained experience points for each kill.

This chain of events kept up for the next two hours or so as he mowed the balloons down with little effort at a rapid pace. Over the course of the two hours he had decided to switch to his new bow as well as test out how to accurately fire the weapon off. He knew he would need the training with it, and this would be the best time for that while he had the chance to start grinding and practicing off the weak monsters. Tyrus had come to find out that the bow also produced its own arrows whenever he pulled the bowstring to take aim and fire with it.

This would definitely come in handy as he found out that he wasn't all that great with the bow itself. The dark skinned man noted that it took more skill to aim and hit his target with the bow than the gun as it required greater strength to pull the bowstring and accounting for trajectory and range as well as the wind and how far he needed to shoot. He reasoned he'd need more practice with the bows if he wanted to use his new weapon to its fullest extent.

After another hour of practicing and grinding, he had become level two and he noticed his stats were rising.

**[Tyrus Owens: level 2**

**Health: 350**

**Magic: 40**

**Attack: 100**

**Magic Attack: 15**

**Defense: 40**

**Magic Defense: 10**

**Agility: 120]**

Looking at his status screen and seeing the increase, he could see how the others saw this as nothing but a game. It felt way too much like one with how there was an interface and everything, but he wouldn't let himself fall prey to that line of thinking. He knew it wasn't a game because over the past hour that he was training with the bow, he had been attacked by the little balloon bastards and they had gotten a bite on him.

The little bastards hurt like all kinds of hell and they drew a bit of blood from him to boot. It had dried up by the time he was finished and was making his way back to the capital town to check in on Elhart and find an inn to turn in for the night. With only twenty-eight days left until the wave hits, he needed to get stronger and fast, as well as deal with his issue of finding at least one companion that can keep up with him and he can trust.

**XxXxX**

The sun had started setting as he strolled back into the capital town gates, and he needed to see Elhart again before turning in for the night. So quickly making his way over to the man's shop, he entered it to see said man getting ready to close up for the night. The chiming of the doorbell prompted the bald man to look up and smirk at one of his new favorite customers now.

"Welcome back you brat! How did it go with your field test? Find out anything good?" Elhart just had to get in a jab about how he was older than Tyrus knowing it would get to him instantly. To his great pleasure, he wasn't disappointed by seeing Tyrus's eye twitch in annoyance that he tried to cover up.

"First of all, fuck you chrome dome, I'm 28 years old and your 32. We're only four years apart in age you bald bastard. But, yes I did find out quite a lot about this weapon." He started by walking up to the counter and placing it on the counter now for his blacksmith to inspect with him. "This thing doesn't require ammunition of any kind, because it produces its own arrows and bullets whenever I fire it off."

That got the lesser of the scarred men between them to widen his eyes in complete surprise now. "You're kidding me. So you could just fire away with bullets and arrows like there's no tomorrow and never need to worry about it just like that? Well I shouldn't be too surprised however, because it is a legendary weapon after all." He rubbed his bald head and then frowned heavily as a thought crossed his mind.

"If that's the case, then what the hell am I supposed to do with all of this ammunition you're having me make? It's just a waste of time and resources to make then if you don't even need them." He looked at Tyrus to see the man smirking and shaking his head now.

"That's not exactly true, my friend. The bullets it produces to attack on its own aren't exactly as strong as an actual bullet. Over the time I was training, I noticed a message that explained how I could use accessories such as arrows and bullets to increase my striking power. It seems the weapon is only as strong as my stats are themselves, so I'll need the ammo to have an extra kick in firepower when I come across stronger enemies in the future."

Hearing this caused Elhart to sigh in relief to know that his efforts wouldn't go to waste now. "Alright then, that's good to know at least. Plus you still have to find yourself some companions like the other heroes. I'll admit that you're good as its obvious you've been in a fight before and have more experience than the others, but you can't possibly do everything alone."

Tyrus only grunted with a nod at first in response, but finally sighed out. "I know, I know. I will be finding at least one person as soon as I can that I can trust to watch my back, and can keep up with me, or at the very least have the potential to one day. I don't mind training someone if need be, but if they can't hold their own it wouldn't be worth it in my eyes. Oh yeah, did you find out anything yourself? Is there anything you feel you need to know to get started on my request?"

Elhart shook his head as he produced the M16 on the counter with a grin. "Nope. The blueprints we came up with and the inspection from this thing was all I needed. You've paid me already so I can start on it tomorrow. However, it's going be a while before I'm done with it. I'm doing this completely from scratch even though I have the listed materials to make this thing. Give me a few weeks on it."

Tyrus nodded as he turned to walk out, but stopped as he saw a pair of black studded gloves hanging on the wall. He picked them up and looked them over, and turned back to Elhart who was watching him with interest.

"How much for these gloves?"

"Those? 40 copper since they are studded and provide a small increase in physical protection."

"Alright, I'll take them. Keep the change."

Tyrus grinned happily as he placed a single silver coin on the counter now. He took out his combat knife and proceeded to cut the fingers off of both gloves turning them into a set of fingerless combat gloves now. Slipping them on and flexing his hands out a few times, Tyrus couldn't keep the grin off his face now.

"Perfect!"

"I want you to know that I think you're completely weird, brat."

"Bite me! These are perfect! They will protect my hands from the recoil whenever I fire the gun or punch something. I'll need a pair made out of Kevlar, but I think I'll need to go to the tailor for that later."

"Whatever you say, bow boy. Well, I need you to clear out as I'm closing shop now. You can find one of the inns to go stay in for the night. I'll get to work on yours and the shield boy's orders tomorrow."

Tyrus frowned for a moment at being called bow boy again, but let it slide as he gave a halfhearted salute and turned to walk out of the blacksmiths shop now.

**XxXxX**

Tyrus could be seen on the streets of Melromarc walking towards one of the inns as the night had finally claimed the sky. As he was walking towards his destination to turn in for the night he was stopped by an odd, short, and round man. He was wearing a tuxedo with pink feathers around the collar, and a top hat that that was black in color. He had a perpetual Cheshire cat like grin on his face as he spoke to the tall black soldier.

"Hello, hello friend! I know who you are and I've heard the rumors about you. I've also heard that you have companion troubles as well. I may be of help to you on that front, my dear bow hero!" The odd little man moved out of the alleyway into Tyrus's full view now as he kept his grin up.

Tyrus for his part only narrowed his eyes at the short little man and tried to keep himself from opening fire on this guy in the middle of the street. Though, he did have to admit that he needed companions, but he wouldn't just take anyone. Although that issue could be put on the backburner as he needed to know something else first. "It's rather rude to not introduce yourself first before trying to make a proposition of any kind to someone, you know? That's bad business etiquette, and I can tell that you're obviously a businessman with the way you're dressed."

The short man's grin grew even wider if that were possible as he let out a laugh at the response he was given, and then bowed to Tyrus. "Why you are quite right! Where have my manners gone? My name is Beloukas! I'm in the business of trading _merchandise of a lively kind_ you see, and I approached you after hearing the rumors that you were searching for companions. I believe I can help you on that front!"

Tyrus let a growl escape from his throat as his had floated over the gun handle that was on his thigh now. He was ready to open fire and Beloukas could see clearly see this was the case as his grin dropped now. "This _lively merchandise_ you're trading wouldn't be what I think it really is, would it?" This man reminded him of the Batman villain, The Penguin, as he was similarly dressed as the short and round man and had a similar attitude. He was only missing the gun umbrella that the villain carried on him at all times.

Beloukas could see he may have made a mistake in approaching the bow hero so early, as he seemed ready to attack at a moment's notice. He was afraid for of the much taller and muscular man, but he couldn't falter as he wasn't ready to die quite yet. Though it was only for a moment, his grin disappeared, but it reappeared just as quickly despite the danger. "Why yes, it is what you think. I won't lie to you as you seem to be a very intelligent man, but I offer more than just that as well if it doesn't suit your tastes. I can provide you with information that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else!"

That stopped Tyrus in his tracks instantly as he went slightly wide eyed at that. He was dealing with a true blue slave trader, but in the past experiences, slave traders did indeed know valuable information. He heavily frowned at the thought of letting this man live and continue on with his business, but the prospect of information was too good to pass up. "I should kill you where you stand, Penguin, and I just might if this information turns out to be useless."

Beloukas frowned slightly with a tilt of his head at the odd word for a moment. "What or who is a penguin?" Beloukas couldn't help but ask as ignored the threat to his life before shrugging it off. It wasn't the first time he'd been threatened in his life for being in the business of slave trading, and he could tell that this wouldn't be the last time either. "Well either way, I can assure you that I have information you would be dying to know about, but of course it comes at a cost."

Tyrus for his part shook his head as he couldn't believe he was really considering letting this man live and ignored the question about the penguin bit. "Alright, you get one chance to convince me that I shouldn't fill you full of lead, and then set all of your _merchandise_ free." He gave the man a cold death glare as he crossed his arms looking directly at the short man who had his full grin again.

"Well how about this then? For starters, the kingdom of Melromarc is a matriarch, and not a monarch. Aultcray Melromarc is mainly a figurehead in power while his wife, Mirelia Q. Melromarc is away at the moment. You four heroes were summoned behind her and the other nation's backs by Aultcray and the Church of the Three Heroes. Each major country was supposed to summon only one hero to deal with the Waves of Calamity all over the world."

At this bit of revelation, Tyrus's blood ran dead cold for a moment before boiling over in pure rage the next. He wanted to storm that castle and murder Aultcray Melromarc right then and there, but that wouldn't do him any good at the moment. He took a few deep breaths before looking at the man that continued to grin at him the entire time. He sighed at pulled out 15 silver coins and handed them over to the man.

"I'll have to take your word on this. You couldn't possibly make something like that up on the spot unless it was true. I won't ask how you know this, as you're a slave merchant and successful one at that from your attire. You've sold to nobles and commoners alike in more than just this country if you told me something like this. I've noticed throughout the day that a lot of the shop owners seemed to have slaves doing manual labor for them. I guess that would indicate that slavery is legal within this country." This left an extremely bad taste in Tyrus's mouth as he wouldn't want to wish slavery on anyone, but killing Aultcray, Beloukas, and Mirelia for letting this go on.

Beloukas grinned even wider as he accepted the money happily as he had given up a rather hefty piece of information in exchange for his life. He was also stunned at the rather astute assessment and nodded at him. "I have to say I'm extremely impressed by your assessment! Though it only pertains to Demi-Humans in this country, as the country of Melromarc has been at war with the country of Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden for years off and on. Those countries are run predominately by demi-humans and have human slaves in turn."

Another sigh escaped Tyrus's throat as he felt the need to just sit down. He was extremely pissed at this point at having found out this new information as well as learning that the waves also happened in more than just one country, but rather over the entire world as well. He needed sleep and he needed it now. "I get it. This whole damn world is corrupt to its core, but this is how things are here. Killing you and the leaders of this world would do no good for me. I'm going to go sleep. I'll be back for more information later." Tyrus sounded completely drained and defeated as he started massaging his head to stave off a growing migraine now.

"As you wish, sir hero, I have more information should you need it for the right price of course. You can find me at my tent by going through the back allies from here. You won't be able to miss it once you start looking." With his piece said, the man slinked into the darkness of the alleyway off back to his slavers tent.

Tyrus just walked off in a much fouler mood as he quickly found an inn for the night and paid for his room and dinner. As he ate his dinner, he had heard the voices of the heroes laughing and having a good time with their companions. He looked up and saw Naofumi going up towards his room upstairs, while his partner from before, Myne, was still sitting at their table drinking alone.

He ignored her avoiding eye contact with her completely as he saw Motoyasu off to the side with his party of women drinking with him and enjoying themselves. He ate quickly and went off to bed himself, as he was unaware of the trap that was being set for the shield hero.

**XxXxX**

**And scene! Ok! I know what you're thinking, why have Tyrus meet Beloukas, the slave trader, so early and not kill him or get a companion from him? Think about it for a second. Why would Tyrus take a slave in the first place? He's not at that point that Naofumi was at that he needs to buy one. There's no reason for him to buy a slave as he won't end up in the situation that Naofumi will that he has no other option but to buy one.**

**Beloukas comes from a family of slave traders the world over. It would make sense that the man would have highly sensitive information that most others wouldn't be able to come by so easily. Generally speaking, police and military use the tactic of having informants to gain information on targets for different reasons. Tyrus comes from the military where information is key to winning wars and such. He can deal with the devil to get what he needs here, but he will do his damnedest to not cross that line.**

**As for the legendary bow itself, I decided to go with what I did for the sole reason that in the anime, manga, light novel, and web novel there was never any mention about Itsuki once having a quiver of arrows or magazine of ammunition on him. Which leads me to believe that he had unlimited arrows and ammo due to the legendary bow itself producing the arrows as he drew the bowstring. But, it runs off his attack stat, unlike his companions that have to have the arrows. **

**We all know what's coming next and it kills me to have to do this to Naofumi once again, but it must be done. I hope I do this scene justice. But for now, ciao for now to all you cool cats and kittens!**


	8. Chapter 8 Paradigm Shift

**So yeah, this is long overdue and well I don't have any sort of excuse other than being lazy part of the time and not having much time in between work and watching my niece on a constant basis. But, still I will be bringing the next chapter to this story for all you cool cats and kittens out there to hopefully enjoy! I've mulled this chapter over multiple times in my head over and over about how I want it to go. This is an important part of the story for a number of reasons, but hopefully I do it justice. Well time for some review shoutouts!**

**Anon: Well I'm glad you found my story to be surprising and that you're enjoying it! Yeah, the story isn't a focus on Naofumi, but there will be mentions to him and there will be parts dedicated to each of the four heroes as I write this out. But, for the most part this focuses on Tyrus Owens and his experience through the world. Also, think about it this way, the magic shop owner isn't stupid in the slightest. She could tell a fake name miles away, add on to the fact that Tyrus intentionally gave them a codename before stating it. Also, when you're building trust between people telling someone their real name is always a step in the right direction. It's not so much as Tyrus "turning over a new leaf" as it is that he's trying to build some form of trustworthy and useful connections in a foreign and hostile world.**

**grimmzapdos: As I've stated before, all guns are derived from the bow. So yep, it makes sense that the bow would be able to transform into guns since they are advanced forms of bows. But, I don't want to spoil anything about projectiles if you haven't seen a certain character yet. She will become a major player in my story, and it only depends on how long I take getting to that point.**

**AnimeA55Kicker: Tyrus is indeed black, as am I. I should have clarified that better in the story, but I sort of wanted to leave it to the reader to figure out on their own as well. His race isn't a big deal, but within Melromarc and that world, he would be an oddity and exotic person even among the Demi-Human population. But yeah, we never actually see a single black person in ROTSH or in anime in general. **

**Guest: Hahaha. Oh trust me. Defend Naofumi the soldier shall. Like I've said before, I've put a LOT of thought into this chapter and how things will go. I hope this will be good though like I plan it to be. It's an important part of the series that sets up the entire story altogether. Certain things must happen as they are integral to the story.**

**The Inquisitor: Thank you for clarifying what the orc meant from the last chapter. Trust me, the big human will indeed have plenty of firepower for the WAAAGH when the time comes. But all things in moderation and in due time. **

**MStylez: As I've stated before, I don't have much experience or information on the light novel, but I'm working to correct that as soon as possible. My story will mostly follow the web novel unless I can indeed get my hands on copies of the light novel soon. Tyrus has access to some of the strengthening methods now simply because of his experience with different types of games in his (my own) past, which line up with some of the strengthening methods used in the actual story. But with "belief" being the true power behind the weapons, he hasn't completely discovered everything yet. He's just ahead of the curve for the moment.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero. It's owned by Yunagi Aneko-sensei. I have nothing witty to say here this time. I'm just sad that I don't own this series. Now on with the show…. I'm gonna go die in a corner now.

**XxXxX**

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 8: Paradigm Shift**

Tyrus didn't sleep well through the night as he had been woken up multiple times throughout the night. He had flashbacks of the men and women around him dying to gunfire and explosions that rang out clear as day. He could hear their screams and cries for their mothers and fathers before he woke up in a cold sweat with wild eyes staring at the dark room around him as he fought with himself to remember where he was currently.

He groaned as he flopped back down onto the soft pillow trying to get a little more sleep, but it wasn't meant to be as he looked to the side window and could see a few rays of light starting to peak through now. It was just shy of sunrise and he wanted to kick himself and his brain for giving him those nightmares once again. It wasn't about Briggs and his betrayal this time, but his time in Afghanistan when he had turned eighteen and joined the Army immediately after graduating high school. He was young, dumb, and full of testosterone ready to see action and take part in a war simply because needed an out from his family at the time.

Tyrus sat up though and stopped that train of thought as he shook his head to get the thought of his family and the wars out of his mind. He grunted as he got up out of the bed and got to work on doing his morning workout with more fervor than before. But, as time passed in relative silence followed by the occasional grunt of exertion, he could hear multiple sets of metal boots running through the halls of the inn. Stopping in his workout, he got up and got dressed quickly as he heard a banging on one of the doors down the hallway.

Getting more curious by the second, Tyrus heard shouting, as he opened his door and saw Naofumi and a bunch of royal guards standing in the hallway. He heard Naofumi shout about being robbed and asking where Myne was, and then the guards saying he was to be brought in to stand trial for some sort of crime. This caused Tyrus to growl as he finally made his presence known to everyone there.

"Shield Hero, you are to stand trial for your crimes! You will come with us to see the king as he delivers his judgement upon you!" One of the guards shouted out as he took the lead over the group.

"What?! What crime?! The only crime here is that I've been robbed! Why won't you guys listen to me?!" Naofumi protested immediately as he had no idea what was going on or what these guards were talking about.

"Well now, it seems there's a shit show going on, and I'm not invited huh?" Tyrus called out in an oddly calm voice that was just loud enough for everyone to hear as they all turned to him now.

"Who are you?! This doesn't concern you… Wait a second. You're the Bow Hero, Zen, aren't you? What are you doing here?" The lead guard called out in bewilderment with wide eyes as everyone was just as surprised to see him now.

"Yeah, it's me, Zen. Now I'll ask you once more, why wasn't I invited to this little show that the king is putting on? Also, what sort of crime has Naofumi committed in only one day of being in this world?" His voice was still calm, but he was starting to grit his teeth silently as he could feel his blood already starting to boil this early in the morning. He wouldn't lose his temper on guards that were merely doing their jobs though.

The lead guard could tell that this man was getting angry but he still had a job to do and he would do it. Plus he remembered that he was backed by his squad and the king so there was nothing to really fear here, right? "As far as we could gather, he's being put to judgement for the worst crime in all of Melromarc of sexual assault! We were told to bring him to the king at all costs!"

"**WHAT?!"**

This caused both Tyrus and Naofumi to shout out in complete disbelief now as the pair stared at the guards as if they had grown a second head. The guards then used the lack of motion from the two heroes to quickly seize Naofumi and push him along as he caught up in how this could have happened. Naofumi had almost missed that he had been restrained and was being pushed along at this point, while Tyrus's mind was racing a mile a second with how something like this could happen.

Tyrus narrowed his eyes and felt his hands shake with complete anger, but stopped himself before he could do anything rash. He could have fought the guards and gotten Naofumi out of there, but that wouldn't do either of them any good. Tyrus could smell foul play and took a minute to calm down so he could figure out everything he would need to mount some sort of defense for the poor young man. He then went back into his room and gathered all of his belongings and then instantly went to Naofumi's room to inspect it for any sort of evidence to prove his innocence. He could still hear Naofumi shouting about his innocence as he was taken by force now.

The tall black man knew that such an accusation could only come from one person after only a day of him being in that world and it all pointed to his sole party member, Myne Sophia. But, what he couldn't understand was the motive behind it on either side really. If he looked at it from a more neutral side, there was nothing in Naofumi's behavioral patterns that gave away to him being a sexual predator, but there was also nothing saying he couldn't have been hiding his true motives either. But, on the reverse side of this were Myne and her motives. She had acted overly friendly and open, but that wouldn't justify someone of suspicion alone.

Tyrus knew he didn't have long to gather up any sort of evidence so he inspected things quickly but thoroughly inside of Naofumi's room now. While inside of Naofumi's room he didn't find anything that gave way to any sort of scene that told that he had sexually assaulted anyone in his room. His room was completely free of any signs of any sort of struggling or fighting going on inside of it. There was nothing amiss, so he decided to see about Myne's room as well. So he bolted out and down to the manager's desk to ask about the rooms.

After a few minutes of needling the manager that seemed to refuse to tell him anything, Tyrus was able to get the information out of him about which room the girl was staying in. So he went on his way back up to the room and went inside without any issue. Looking around, he could see that the room was in a similar state as Naofumi's own room. The room was spotless and didn't hold any sort of signs of there being any struggling or fighting going on. The scarred man then decided to turn that room upside down inspecting it, checking every corner of it as quickly as he could, but didn't find anything.

"This seals it for me. If Naofumi assaulted his party member, it would have been in either her room or his, and they are both spotless. There's no sort of markings on the floors or markings sheets of the beds. The doors don't show any signs of forced entry in either of their rooms and there's nothing indicating a motive from Naofumi as well that he would try to rape this girl… at least not yet anyway." Tyrus muttered to himself as he thought things over more as he looked around some more.

"Naofumi was also stone cold sober when I saw him just a few minutes ago. There's something not right however… he's missing his chainmail armor from last night. He did mention getting robbed if I heard him right and he wasn't showing any signs of bruising or struggling as well when I saw him. I find it hard to imagine that Myne wouldn't have tried to fight back in the slightest if he had come in here to force himself on her. Or if he called her to his room and did it there as well, there would have been signs of struggling between them. I'll have to look at Myne to confirm that though, but if this is going down how I think it is, she won't have a scratch on her at all."

Tyrus sighed to himself then growled as he put everything back the way it was in Myne's room then quickly made his way back to the manager to ask him something now. He found it odd that there was no sort of screaming heard throughout the night at any point if Naofumi did really rape Myne that went unnoticed at all. He quickly found the man in question and stared him down now.

"Hello, I want to ask you about something else with two of your guests at your inn. The girl I asked about earlier, the one with the Shield Hero. You didn't happen to see or hear her at all as you were making your rounds later in the night did you?" Tyrus asked in a stern but polite tone of voice now as he noticed the man start to sweat slightly.

"W-What? Oh! The girl with the Shield Hero? Well, I did see her come out of her room and go into his late at night, then leave a few minutes later. However, after that she didn't really seem all that bad off I suppose." He paused for a moment to think about it as he tried to recall the previous night. "After that she met up with the Spear Hero and he looked pretty angry for a second before calming down, and they shared a few drinks together from that point."

Tyrus nodded at this and cupped his chin in thought for a moment. "I see, and did you see the Shield Hero leave his room after he ate dinner with the girl he was with? Because I can tell you that I didn't see him leaving his room after going to bed early before a lot of the patrons in your inn, myself included."

The inn keeper shook his head as he cupped his own chin in thought now too. "Well, it's like you said, I didn't actually see him leave his room either. She went in and came back out a moment later as I was making my rounds. I also didn't see anyone else leave their rooms either once the bar closed down for the night either."

Tyrus nodded at this and pulled out two silvers and handed them over to the inn keeper and started walking away, but the inn keeper started shouting after him. "Umm, sir, please wait a moment and let me get your change! This is far too much for dinner and a room for the night!"

Tyrus shook his hand and waved it off as he kept walking as he was in a hurry. "Don't worry about it at all. Consider it a tip for the good food and a good nights' sleep as well as your help in answering my questions." With that Tyrus walked out of the inn with his next destination in mind even though he really didn't want to go see him in the slightest anymore. However, if this was all really a trap set by Myne he would need more information, and if he had to deal with King Aultcray he would need more information on that man as well just in case. So, that left him with only one person to turn to for information, even though it was still a long shot and a deal with the devil.

**XxXxX**

"Aha! So the Bow Hero, Zen, returns to my humble shop in need of my services once more! It is quite the honor to have you here, sir hero! Have you reconsidered my offer to purchase my merchandise?!" Beloukas nearly shouted out with the same Cheshire cat like grin on his face. He could tell that wasn't why the bow hero was here, but that wouldn't stop him from trying in the first place.

This only caused Tyrus to sigh as his fingers twitched and inched its way towards his holstered weapon, but he stopped himself from doing shooting the slave trader again. He growled lowly and shook his head as he leveled a hard glare on the small man. "Don't flatter yourself and cut the bullshit, Beloukas, I need information." His voice was strained as it was clear that he wanted to go on a killing spree then and there. "I need information on the Shield Hero's partner, Myne Sophia, and more information on King Aultcray."

The well-dressed man's grin only seemed to grow even further if that were even possible at Tyrus's words. "Oh ho! Straight to business! I love that in a customer that knows exactly what they want. I daresay that you are quickly growing to become my favorite type of customer." Beloukas let out a laugh as he noticed the way the larger man stared death at him now and threw his hands up in a defensive manner to stave off the killing intent now.

"R-Right. The information that I have on this Myne Sophia person doesn't seem all that good actually. Mainly because it's a false name you see, much like in the same way you gave that codename. I happened to get a good look at all the heroes and their parties while they were still in the capital yesterday, and I have to say that I never expected the Shield Hero to have the princess of this kingdom in his party." Beloukas said with a small hint of regret and genuine surprise in his voice.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I thought I heard something rather crazy just now." Tyrus said in actual surprise dropping his anger at this piece of information now. He actually shook his head and picked his ears clean to really listen to the short man to make sure he heard him clearly.

"Yes, I'm quite certain that the red haired lass that was traveling with the Shield Hero was indeed the princess of this kingdom, Malty S. Melromarc. I've seen that girl a number of times before in the past, and it is quite hard to forget that striking red hair of hers and those calculative green eyes of hers. Even to someone like me, she rubs me the wrong way with how manipulative I've heard she is." This then caused the grin that the portly top hat wearing man had to actually fall from his face for a moment now. "Even I would be hesitant to deal with her after the things I've heard she's done."

"And I suppose framing the Shield Hero for rape would just add on to that list I suppose huh?" Tyrus questioned in stark realization at just how fucked Naofumi truly was, but it would make the most sense given the circumstances surrounding the situation. Aultcray seemed to have a burning hatred for Naofumi from the moment they had gotten there despite how well he tried to hide it, and the other adventurers seemed to hold him in some contempt as well. With the king's daughter joining him as his only partner, she would be free to set him up for a crime he didn't commit without any way to really defend himself.

Also adding on to the fact that she was the princess in a matriarchy, she would hold a significant amount of power so her word against Naofumi's, despite being a hero, would be pretty much believed from the outset. Tyrus's mind was working overtime as he stood silently as his face twisted and contorted through a range of motions, while Beloukas stood watching with interest. The slave trader didn't speak mainly because he felt that if he did, the bow hero would turn his ire onto him, and that wasn't something he wanted in the slightest.

Tyrus grunted as he refocused back on Beloukas and nodded for a moment. "I see. This is bad and good for a multitude of reasons, and I think this whole country and possibly this entire world should just burn and die out." Tyrus stated with a causal tone of voice as if he were talking about the admittedly nice weather. "This country and a lot of the people in it disgust me, but that isn't exactly fair to the few people that I've come across that are actually decent people." He then gave a pointed look to the slave trader in front of him and scowled slightly at him and that grin never left his face. "I don't know about you, however. I've dealt with your type in my line of work in the past, and while you have your uses, I was never fond of your type."

Beloukas for his part smartly chose to keep quiet throughout all of this until he was addressed, but his grin never left his face. He could smell an opportunity when it presented itself and he would grasp it. "I see what you mean, my dear bow hero. I can agree with you that I am not exactly a good person, but I can assure you that I won't do anything to betray you. I also assure you that my information is completely accurate, and as a show of good faith I'll not charge you for this piece of information!"

Tyrus grunted and nodded at that. He had to be quick as he knew that the sham of a trial was going on and he needed to get there as soon as possible. "I think with everything you've told me so far, I think I can get by here to mount a defense for the Shield Hero. I'll have to pass on the information for Aultcray for now and use everything you told me about him last night. That might suffice to get him into backing off." With that Tyrus left the slave trader's shop and quickly made his way to the castle to try and set things right for Naofumi.

**XxXxX**

Naofumi Iwatani was in complete disbelief as he had found out that he had been betrayed by his only party member, Myne Sophia. It was just as the guards said to him and Tyrus that he was being put on trial for raping her and nobody would listen to anything he had to say on the contrary. His disbelief had then turned to rage as he saw that Myne had taunted him when she thought that nobody but him was looking at her. She had pulled on her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him in a condescending manner as if to declare that she had won.

"You bitch! You set me up! I didn't rape her! She stole everything from me and framed me! Motoyasu, that armor you're wearing is the one she stole from me! Ren! You have to believe me! I would never rape a woman!" Naofumi shouted in anger and protest as he tried to defend himself as he could feel his anger growing for the woman that put him in this situation. He could see the cold and angry looks of both Ren and Motoyasu as they were taken in by Myne's words.

The trial had started as soon as he had gotten there, and Myne had told the royal court that he had forced his way into her room in the middle of the night while completely drunk and raped her there. He knew that it was nothing but a lie as he told her that he didn't drink and he went to bed early that night. Naofumi had tried to tell everyone there that it was all a lie and he had done nothing wrong, but nobody would listen to him. Instead the royal court had called for his death or that he should have never been summoned in the first place.

He had told them that they should just send him back home and summon a new shield hero instead if that's how they were going to treat him. However, he found out that he couldn't go home unless all the waves had been repelled and they couldn't summon anyone else unless all the heroes were killed. So they came to the realization that they were stuck there until the job was done or they died.

"Fine! If I'm stuck here then I will do things my way! I don't need you bastards! This whole kingdom can burn and rot for all I care!" He shouted in anger as he threw the guards off of him as he turned to leave, but was stopped by Motoyasu a second later. The two young men looked each other in the eye for a second, but Naofumi jerked his arm out of Motoyasu's grasp and turned to leave. "Leave me the hell alone, I don't have a second to waste to get strong enough to survive the waves. I'm the weak one here, remember?"

Just as he was about to leave, the doors swung wide open from a heavy kick by Tyrus as he was clearly angry, but nobody could tell who he was angry at. He was breathing heavily as it seemed that he had run the entire way to the throne room.

"**I'M SORRY THAT I'M FASHONIABLY FUCKING LATE TO THIS FASHIONABLE FUCKING SHIT SHOW, AND THAT MAKES ME FASHIONABLY FUCKING ANGRY! YOU LOT DECIDED TO FASHIONABLY FUCKING FRAME THE SHIELD HERO FOR RAPE?!"**

Tyrus roared out in complete rage as everyone turned completely silent at his unexpected arrival and anger. For a moment, nobody moved and waited to see what he would do next as Tyrus made his way into the room quickly and walked right up to Naofumi with a purpose and a plan in mind. "Don't go anywhere just yet, this main event is about to start." Tyrus said to Naofumi with full conviction as the younger man was stunned that someone was defending him.

Everyone seemed to be brought out their stupor as Motoyasu narrowed his eyes first and growled at Tyrus now. "What the hell are you doing here you psycho?! And why would you think that criminal Naofumi was framed for raping Myne?! She's clearly been assaulted if you hadn't noticed!" This got nods from everyone as they seemed to become brave again seeing that the Spear Hero was still on their side.

Tyrus looked him over and narrowed his eyes as well and let out his own growl as his fingers twitched once again and started making its way towards his weapon. "Naofumi didn't rape Myne it was all a setup likely by her and you're nothing more than a pawn in her schemes. Stop for a moment and take a good look at her. Tell me, do you notice anything strange about her? That goes for you too Ren! Look at Myne and tell me if you notice anything at all!" He asked in a low tone at first, but shouted across the room to get the Sword Hero's attention as well.

The two young men looked at Tyrus then at the red haired girl who seemed rather shocked that she was being put on the spot. She decided that she would have to play the hurt victim here as best she could now that the attention was back on her again. "W-What? Of course I was violated by that criminal! He forced himself on me in my room!" She had started to fake cry as well to give herself more room to work with in fooling the other three heroes, but Tyrus wasn't having any of her shit.

The large black solider walked past both Naofumi and Motoyasu getting right in Myne's face a second later with Ren next to her ready to pull his sword on Tyrus if need be. "Zen, I don't know what you're talking about but if you hurt her, be prepared to fight me. I won't let you hurt this girl." Ren said as he finally pulled out his sword and stepped a little closer to the girl causing the larger and older man to stop just short of the two.

Tyrus rolled his eyes and shook his head at this. "Put your weapon away. I'm not going to hurt her unless she does something even more stupid than she's already done. But look at her again, Ren. If she was telling the truth that she had been raped by Naofumi, she would look worse for wear right? Look at her. There isn't a scratch on her in the slightest. Her armor isn't scuffed in the slightest, and there's no sort of bruise or mark on her at all."

This caused everyone that could hear the bow hero to gasp in shock as they looked the girl over now. Myne was starting to sweat behind her fake crying as she had come to the realization that the bow hero was more observant than the other three heroes. But the king decided to bail her out in some sort of vain attempt now.

"What?! You think she's lying?! Then how do you explain this nightgown that was found in the shield hero's room! He must have taken it from her as his sick and perverse trophy of his evil deeds!" Aultcray shouted out as he pointed at the intact nightgown that one of the knights was holding up for Tyrus to see. Tyrus looked the nightgown over and scoffed and shook his head in disgust now as he turned back to face the king with a pointed look as he decided it was time to drop one of the bombshells he knew of.

"While I do commend you for defending your _**daughter **_in her attempt at framing the Shield Hero, it's ultimately a fruitless endeavor here at this point. That nightgown is in too pristine a condition to be anything but fake evidence. I personally inspected both rooms of Naofumi Iwatani and your daughter, _**Malty S. Melromarc**_, and there was nothing in either of their rooms that points towards Naofumi having forced entry into her room or forcing himself onto her."

"What?! How did you find that out?!" Aultcray shouted out which confirmed Tyrus's words. At this point both the king and princess were completely sweating and in absolute shock at this turn of events. They were left speechless as the audience gasped out as well at having this revelation revealed to the other heroes.

"Myne is a princess?!" Motoyasu had shouted out as he couldn't help but watch everything that had gone on so far. He had indeed missed the fact that Myne, or rather Malty, was in perfect condition and so was that nightgown the guards had presented as evidence earlier. He could also remember that when Malty had come to his room late last night that she was also in pristine condition as well.

"See?! I told you I didn't do it!" Naofumi shouted out as he was relieved that at least one person there was willing to defend him and try to clear his name. He was also in shock that he was traveling with a princess although she was a lying bitch. He couldn't forgive her or the king for what they had tried to do to him.

Ren for his part narrowed his eyes and the gears were turning in his head now as he tried to figure things out. "You said that there wasn't any evidence that points towards Naofumi having actually assaulted her, but all we have to go on is your word against hers. I will grant you that there isn't a single mark on her body, at least the parts that we can see at least. The princess also said that Naofumi came into her room drunk. What about that?"

Tyrus shook his head and pointed a thumb back at Naofumi with a roll of his eyes. "Look at him. The guy is alert and wide awake even this early in the morning. If he was actually drunk, he would smell like a drunkard, would be slur his words, and look hungover and would be barely able to stand. Plus, Malty isn't so weak that she can't defend herself or she wouldn't have mixed in with the other adventures that were to join us from the start yesterday. I'm sure that if Naofumi was actually drunk, she could have easily gotten him off her."

This quick and concise analysis promptly made Ren go wide eyed in realization that Tyrus was right. He had no sort of rebuttal against that, but Motoyasu decided that he would take his turn instead and pointed at the solider now. "How can you be so certain that Malty doesn't have any sort of scar or bruise on her you psycho?!" This only caused Tyrus to scoff at the question and look at the princess again who was trying to find any excuse to not be noticed now.

"If you really feel the need to, then take her into a private room and inspect her naked body. I guarantee you that you won't find any sort of bruise or scar on her in the slightest. With my time as a solider during war, I've seen many rape victims both alive and dead, as well as during and after the fact. She isn't showing any signs of the behavioral patterns involved with a traumatized victim both mentally and physically." He scoffed at this before narrowing his eyes at the man now that he got a good look at him after turning to him.

"Where did you get that chainmail armor? You didn't have it last night when I saw you in the inn."

"This? The princess got it for me as a gift last night when she came to me! What about it? Are you jealous or something?" This caused Motoyasu to smirk as if he had gotten one over on the soldier, but it dropped as the man only rolled his eyes at him. He grit his teeth in anger and was about to start shouting but he was cut off by the soldier.

"Right… That belongs to Naofumi. It lines up with Naofumi's earlier statement that he was robbed and the information I got from the innkeeper as well. That confirms it that the princess did it. The innkeeper saw her enter into Naofumi's room in the middle of the night and come back out only seconds later holding the armor and two bags. I presume they were his old clothes and money bag." Tyrus said with finality as he was getting tired of this entire ordeal at this point. He was sick to his stomach of Malty and wanted to just kill her and be done with this but he couldn't just kill a princess or else he'd have an entire nation to contend with at every waking second.

"What?! There's no way she did that! Why would she steal from that criminal?! She gave it to me as a gift last night as she escaped from his room…" He stopped himself after realizing what he had said and everything that was being told to him. Motoyasu was prone to believe any woman, but even he had to stop and admit that it seemed far too convenient at how it all truly lined up at that moment. "There's no way.. There's no way she would.. Right?" Motoyasu half asked in a more reserved tone with less confidence that the princess was in the right on this.

Tyrus shook his in slight pity for the confused blonde, but if it would knock the man out of his delusion and see this world for what it truly was, he would take that opportunity tenfold. "Yes, Motoyasu, she would and did steal from him and gave it to you. If you don't believe me, check the armor itself. There is a signature on it that it was purchased by Naofumi Iwatani from Elhart's weapon shop."

It was at this point that Aultcray would speak up again before things turned completely upside down. "These are nothing but baseless lies and slander! I will no longer hear the words of criminal that has raped my own daughter! Nor will I listen to the ravings of a madman that has threatened my royal guard and maid as well as threaten to kill the other heroes themselves! Yes, I will admit that this girl here is indeed my daughter, but she would never lie about such things! Guards! I want these two criminals out of my castle right this instant!"

Tyrus instantly turned his scarred eye towards the king leveling him with a death glare instantly that caused the gray haired man to recoil in slight fear. "Two things will happen if any of your guards so much as lay a finger on Naofumi or me, Aultcray. One: Everyone in this room will learn that you're a _**true criminal against this very world**_. Two; is that any guard that does touch us will suffer broken bones. Think about your next move very carefully, Aultcray." He growled out his as he flexed his gloved hands ready and spoiling for a fight to break out now.

Aultcray didn't know what to do at this point. He didn't know what this man knew and he was sweating bullets, but he knew he had to get both the bow and shield hero out now. This was backfiring royally and he had to salvage this, but he stopped and thought for a moment then it came to him. "So you truly are a madman? _Tyrus Owens_ the madman that threatens innocent people for so little an offense such as eavesdropping and threatening guards for doing their jobs? Ha! I shouldn't be surprised honestly that you're nothing but scum as well. I want you and the shield hero out of my castle this instant! Your crimes will be made public, and should you refuse, you will be hunted down for the rest of your days!"

At this point Tyrus fully turned his body to face Aultcray and gave the older man his full attention. "So I was right in the end then? You indeed had spies following me and more than likely the other heroes as well. Good to know. But, just know that I know that you're a criminal against this very world. If you piss me off any further, the others will know. But I've made my point that Naofumi didn't rape your harpy of a bitch daughter. I'll be sure to be a little more vigilant about them in the future from now on. You know my name now. Good for you, Aultcray. Also, congratulations are in order. You're getting me to leave without yours or your daughter's heads and your secret still intact. But, I'm giving you one final chance to not fuck things up any more than you already have. _**The other countries need the heroes too after all**_, and I doubt you and yours could deal with a war right now huh?" With that he turned to leave now and as he started walking everyone else was in pure silence as he and Naofumi left them all there.

The king didn't miss that statement and for an instant his blood ran completely cold. He was stunned into pure silence as did some of the very top brass of his royal court having caught on to the implication of such a line. Motoyasu and Ren stood in complete silence as they contemplated everything that had just taken place with Tyrus showing up to Naofumi's trial.

**XxXxX**

**Ok! And scene! Holy fuck! This is possibly my longest chapter to date, and I have to say that I like how it turned out for the most part. I know it ran long, but I kinda had to set it up this way to get it all in one go. I hope I did this scene justice. I tried to make sure there was nothing that I missed here information wise about the trial itself. It's a pivotal part to the story, and while I wanted to keep it somewhat the same, I couldn't exactly do that with Tyrus there. **

**I was planning on calling this chapter "Fashionable Shit Show" but I felt that wouldn't fly when uploading it to the website, lol. So I decided to go with "Paradigm Shift" as this is a tone setting chapter. Complete attitude shifts and it's a turning point in the story itself so it really fits here. I also have to say I want to thank everyone that's still stuck with my crap story so far and I hope you amazing cats and kittens are having an incredible day or night whenever you are in this big blue orb we call Earth.**

**Oh! Before I forget I've been giving it some thought about character's theme songs. I'll start with everyone's favorite bitch to hate Malty S. Melromarc! Why her? Because she's the only one that I found a song and instantly thought, "This song fits this character too well."**

**Malty S. Melromarc: "Voracity" English Version by AmaLee**

**Also check out Theoneandonlyedster's story "Rise of a True Shield Hero (Redux)" It's amazing and that cool cat doesn't get enough praise for his great story! Do it people! Ciao for now, people! See ya next time!**


	9. Chapter 9 Behind the Eight Ball

**Aight all you cool cats and kittens out there, I just have to say that I'm sorry. There has been too much time between updates in this fanfiction. If you're still with this story I have to say that I am eternally grateful to each and every single one of you out there. I never expected that this story would be so well received to have been favorited by 167 of you all and followed by even more at 223! This may not seem like a lot compared to other stories out there, but to me it means so much more than you can ever imagine and it blows my mind that you all enjoy this enough. I'll do my best to make this something you all can truly enjoy.**

**The Teletrap: Tyrus's era of equipment is the current modern ones we use today. His look is that of a heavily scared soldier that is tattooed up with short black hair, fairly tall of about 5'9". He has a chin strap type beard that he keeps shaved and maintained, but it could grow out if he wanted it to be a full beard. He wears gray camouflage fatigues that is long sleeved and covers nearly all of his body to hide the scars and tattoos, black combat boots with a black lightweight ballistics vest under his top rather over it. Also that's an interesting idea, but I can't say that he will or won't find it. **

**Deathryuger: It would be interesting to have Trash make a deal with Tyrus. But we both know that he would indeed reject pretty much any deal that Trash tries to come up with. It could be a fun idea to play around with though. So I'll give it some thought later on!**

**Guest: While he in theory COULD develop mortars, it's not like it would do him any good. He can't operate them given that it would be considered a weapon outside of the bow itself. He could teach people about them and how to use them, but the real question you have to ask is why would he give a world he doesn't really like currently more firepower than they need?**

**3-13 Sniper: Of course! I would argue that "Fireman" Volke is the best assassin in the series, but that's highly up for debate as his greatest contender for that position is Jaffar. As far as you nitpicks go, I tend to reread my stuff as well and see them. It often annoys me that I miss these mistakes in passing and I have to see them. Haha. Glad you're enjoying this so far! As for Itsuki… Well he got hit by a truck. He's dead. I'm calling it there at least for this story.**

**FuryofMadness: Well I'm going to be answering that question with this chapter. And I wouldn't really call it a "Dark Side" but more of realization that the world he's in is shitty and so are the people. So he's giving them the same treatment in return that they've given him. **

**Commissar Gaunt: You are true in this assessment. I, sadly, don't have the full scope of how basic training goes and such. I've looked up information on it and I've gotten stories from friends and family about how long and shitty basic went. I won't be 100 percent accurate every time in my story, but I'm working on it.**

**Cj1of4: I know what you mean, and it will happen. So you can be at ease on that front. **

**Shad0wGh0st: Glad I could help with that with my story! I hope you did well on them! **

**Ascandas: Haha. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I believe I've already messaged you in a PM before. Don't worry though. Everyone's favorite Raccoon/Tanuki girl will be in this story.**

**Deadly Instinct: I'm glad you enjoyed this so far! Like I said before, this story will be following the canon story but will be following it from Tyrus's perspective rather than Naofumi's. It will still feature Naofumi obviously as well as the other heroes, but Tyrus is the main focus.**

**Theoneandonlyedster: Tyrus having a slave… I've thought long and hard about it. That's all I'll say for now about it. I'm still glad you enjoyed the chapter and I have to say that after reading your latest chapter, I'm amazed by it. Amazing job to you as well! **

**Vendicor: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll try to keep things going in a similar fashion as well!**

**Boomburst128: I'm not sure if you're giving me a compliment here or criticism with your review. Also I'm not sure if you meant your review for my story or rather the actual canon story as well. If you mean my story, then they listen to the king simply because that is the highest authority that they have met so far. Yes, they know that it's a matriarch rather than a monarch, but they haven't met the Queen as of yet. And as for being ousted by the Queen loyalists, well nobody knows where the queen is currently. **

**Cinder46231: It would be funny indeed to see the king begging Tyrus to come back. I could possibly play around with the idea later in the future if it really strikes me and I want to start diverging from canon.**

**Guest: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! I love this review! Thank you so much! **

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I only own my characters I've created. We know I'm not good enough to create it, but in my mind I do.

**XxXxX**

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 9: Behind the Eight Ball**

"Naofumi, I may have helped you out here today, but in the grand scheme of things it won't really matter."

"I know."

"Word is going to spread that you're a rapist and I'm a madman."

"I know."

"I won't tell you that you shouldn't go after revenge, because that would make me a hypocrite after everything I've told you before about myself. I will tell you however to pick your battles wisely. I will help you where I can, but the games stop here and now for everyone involved. Ren and Motoyasu still haven't realized that this isn't a game and our very lives are on the line here."

"…. I know. It's hard though. All I have is a shield that can't attack. I need party members and there's no way I can really trust anyone after all that's happened. Like an idiot I said that nobody was out to get you and look what happened to me. This is fucking pathetic." Naofumi let out a humorless laugh as he slammed the side of his fist into a stone wall in anger, as the pair of young men was coming out of the castle after the trial had just taken place.

Tyrus looked over at the younger man with a bit of regret. He really wished he could have done more for him that could help him keep his bright personality, but he just didn't have it in him to give him false hope. He could try, but without proper information of the world as a whole, there was only so much he could actually do. Tyrus did have a solution for Naofumi, but he personally hated everything about it, but it would ensure that he had a better chance at survival.

"Naofumi, listen to me for a second on this. I don't like this anymore than you do, but I have a few ideas that could help you out. The first thing is going to another country first and foremost. But there are several things wrong with that. One is that you have no money and barely any clothes. Two is that there is no way of knowing what sort of dangers are on the roads around here. Three is that we have no way of knowing if we can actually cross the borders without complications. I could go on but you get the idea."

Naofumi listened to Tyrus and frowned more with each reason brought up to him. He grit his teeth in more frustration and slammed his fist into the stone again. "So, what am I supposed to do then?! I'm the weak one of the four! The loser with the useless shield that can't defeat even a simple balloon! Nobody will join me after this and besides it's not like I would want any more backstabbers anyway!" Naofumi ranted in anger now as he was on the verge of breaking down and crying now. It was chipping away at him at how terrible his situation had become in only a day of being in this new world.

Tyrus sighed and shook his head at this now. He closed his eyes and finally came to the decision that he had hoped he wouldn't have had to come to in the first place. But in order to give this young man a fighting chance he knew what he had to do. "Naofumi, follow me. First we are going to go see some people, then we…. are going to find you a _party member_." The large black man hated himself for what he was about to do, but lines had already been crossed and he felt it was his duty to give Naofumi a fair fighting chance that nobody else would.

Naofumi went wide eyed and silent at that for a moment. He didn't miss the way Tyrus had spoken those words. It was as if they were completely hollow but he didn't know why, but if it would help him, he would take anything he could get to survive. "What? What do you mean by that?" The black haired younger man had to ask this question now. He didn't know why he felt the need to ask it, but he just knew he did. Out of everyone there, he had the most trust in Tyrus after everything that had happened, but he couldn't exactly say for how long or how much he trusted him.

Tyrus shook his head and decided to stay quiet for the time being. He only turned away from Naofumi's wide eyed gaze and started walking away from the area back towards the castle town. He was really gripping with this decision as he took on a hollowed and slightly defeated look that he refused to allow Naofumi to see at the moment. If he had answered Naofumi then, it would utterly kill him inside and he couldn't go through with it.

**XxXxX**

Walking through the town it was almost impossible for the pair of disgraced heroes to not notice how the people stared at them and whispered as they walked by. They both recognized that the rumors were already spreading like wildfire, and currently there wasn't much they could do to stop it. As Tyrus led Naofumi along with a growing agitated scowl on his face, he noticed the few people he had met and come to actually like looking at him.

He wanted to go over and say something but as he met Matilde Melrose's gaze on him, he then gave her a look that promised he would come back to her and explain things later. This seemed to do the trick as she frowned but went back inside her shop without a word. He also saw the apothecary, Brenham, looking at him with an even but stern gaze as well. He could also see the tailor girl, Tammy, looking at him in slight confusion as well with a frown on her face. He sighed and Naofumi had caught it.

"Friends of yours, Zen?" Naofumi said with slight intrigue and defeat in his voice as he had been silently watching it all. He was in a swirl of emotions himself, but he hadn't missed anything for a second that had happened. He was feeling his rage growing with each passing second overtaking his other emotions but he would hold himself back because someone was still trying to help him.

"You can call me Tyrus now because it doesn't matter anymore. That bastard Aultcray has his spies more than likely keeping tabs on all of the heroes. I've told my name to only a very select few people and I believe they wouldn't have told anyone. But, after what happened with that bitch princess, it's up in the air." Tyrus muttered in response as he could feel his mood getting worse by the second as well. He looked up however and noticed the bald blacksmith looking at them from their left now. "Oh, good we're here."

"Hey! Shield Boy! Bow Boy! I have half a mind to beat you both till you're black and blue right here and now myself!" Elhart shouted out at them both as he walked over to them both and grabbed them both by the collars of their clothes. "What the hell were you thinking shield boy? Raping your party member like that?! And you bow boy, I thought we were past that dealing out death threats to innocent people?! Guards and maids weren't enough for you? So you decided to go after the king, his daughter and his royal court now too?!"

This caused Tyrus to go wide eyed at this as did Naofumi. They were spreading false rumors on him as well. "What?! Wait one fucking second Elhart! I never threatened Malty and I never threatened Aultcray or his royal court! That's horse shit and you know it!" Tyrus roared back in abject rage as he grabbed hold of Elhart's wrist ready to fight him right then and there. But a calm and hollow voice stopped the both of them from coming to blows.

"You too, huh? You believe those lies? I thought you were different, Elhart. Fine. If you're going to beat me then get it over with, but don't lay a finger on the only one that defended me." Naofumi said looking up to the much taller and muscular man that had a near death grip on him. His hollow tone of voice didn't match up with his look of determination to give the man absolute hell if he carried out with attacking Tyrus.

This caused the blacksmith to look at him with a new appraising look after taking in his words. Then he looked at Tyrus and saw the same determination in his hazel brown eyes, and finally relented by letting go of the duo of disgraced heroes. He sighed at them but gave them both hard looks as he spoke. "Fine, I'll hear you both out in my shop. Let's go." Elhart then turned around and started walking into his shop followed by both Tyrus and Naofumi.

The pair looked at each other for a moment before following along behind the older bald man and entered his shop. Elhart leaned against the counter and looked them both over as they had entered in. "Alright, so start explaining what happened." He demanded of them and Tyrus wanted to roll his eyes at this but started speaking up.

"The short version is that Naofumi here was framed by his previous party member to be a rapist. I was the only one to defend him against the king and the other heroes and it seems the king and his bitch daughter decided to frame me for attempting murder after we left. But I don't get why they would go after him. We've only been in this world for little over a day and we're here to save them. So what the hell is their problem?" Tyrus had to ask this as he couldn't get that question out of his head now.

Naofumi nodded in agreement at this, but there had seemed to be a now prominent scowl on his face. "The rumors will spread fast now if you've already heard about this, Elhart, and considering that it's coming from that trash that calls himself a king and his bitch of a daughter. Nobody will believe either of us either that we didn't do it."

"I see. Well the armor you had yesterday is gone as well and we can't have you running around nearly naked, kid. I have something in the back here that should help you out. Wait just a second and I'll get it." With that said, Elhart walked behind the counter and into the back of his shop leaving the two alone for the moment.

"I warned Aultcray that I would expose his little secret if he fucked with us again. It's best you know it as well. I don't know how true it is, but guessing from his earlier reaction, it holds some actual weight." Tyrus said instantly to Naofumi once they were alone in the front of the shop, though he didn't really care if Elhart had heard him at this point.

Naofumi looked his way with wide eyes and his mind was working to try and figure out what Tyrus knew now, but he was drawing up a blank answer. "What is it?" He asked having decided that asking would be the best course of action in this situation. Any and all help to ruin the king and his daughter would be welcome if Naofumi had any say in the matter.

"The four heroes were supposed to be summoned to by different countries to contend with the waves that are supposed to happen all over this world. Not just in Melromarc." Tyrus said with hardly any care now, but he did turn to gauge Naofumi's reaction to this news. He could see that the man was completely speechless at hearing that. "Aultcray essentially doomed the rest of the world by summoning all four heroes to his country from what I understand and we were kept in the dark about that little fact."

"N… No way. You're joking right? The waves happen all around the world? Not just here? And.. We have to stop each one of them? Just the four of us are supposed to stop each wave to save this world? I.. I need to sit down." Naofumi went from speechless to having hundreds of questions in the span of seconds now. To him this revelation was too much to take in at the moment and he promptly leaned against the counter dry heaving now.

Elhart had just come back with a major frown on his face holding a set of clothes in his hand. "You're kidding about that, right kid? I heard you from the back by the way. I knew the waves were bad and they were supposed to be happening all over. But the king really didn't do that did he? Why would he? Also, here you go Shield Boy, a set of clothes that should at least get you started." He then watched as Naofumi's scowl returned as he grabbed the clothes and started storming off towards the changing room.

Tyrus sighed again and shook his head as he pulled out a silver coin and placed it on the counter in front of Elhart now. "That's for his clothes, and I wish I could say that I was kidding. If I had to guess as to why he did it, I would bet on my soldier instinct here. He intends to let the other countries fall to ruin and be weakened by the waves first by fighting them off on their own. Then when they are in a weakened state, he will swoop in with his army and seize power without much resistance and Melromarc will grow in power over time."

Elhart listened to the younger man and took it all in. "I see.. That's a hell of a theory you have there, kid. But something like that is hard to just accept. But enough talk about that for now. What will you two do now? Oh and your requests aren't ready yet. I still need time to work on them both. You can check back in a few weeks for them."

Just as Naofumi came back dressed now, Tyrus bit his lip in agitation and grunted about what he was going to say next. "I hate to say it but we're going to see the slave trader, Beloukas. As much as I don't want to say it, nobody would team up with Naofumi or me willingly right now. We've basically been branded as criminals in this country right now and we don't have time to go to another country with the next wave being less than a month away. Naofumi can't attack and kill monsters on his own right now, and I'm only one man. We need party members to help us get stronger and we need them now or else we won't survive."

"**What?!"**

Both Elhart and Naofumi looked at Tyrus as if he had grown a second head despite everything he had just said. Elhart spoke up first as he slammed his fist down onto his countertop. "Are you out of your mind kid?! What in God's name makes you think buying a slave is the best option for either of you?! Do you truly have no morals that you would actually consider buying a slave just to gain a party member?!" The man was shouting at this point and Tyrus couldn't fault him for it either.

Naofumi shook his head a few times before speaking up now as well. "Tyrus.. You can't be serious can you? You make a lot of sense, but this is just.. too much. We aren't that far gone are we? B-Buying a slave just to have a party member to fight for us? Isn't there some other way?" If Naofumi were to actually consider Tyrus's words, the man did make a ton of sense as he didn't have many options to actually fight, get stronger, and ultimately survive.

"Trust me. I hate this much more than either of you can possibly imagine. But this is a fight for survival rather than just saving the world. I would absolutely love to do this any other way if possible, but we don't have the time or resources to waste on finding another method right now. We have less than 30 days before the next wave hits. What would you do Naofumi? Can you get strong enough in that time on your own to survive the wave? If you can't kill the monsters, you can't get any experience, and if you can't get experience you can't level up." Tyrus said through gritted teeth as much as he didn't want to. But, it would be for the younger man's own good here.

Naofumi stood there and mauled over Tyrus's words again. He definitely saw that the man had a point despite how terrible things were. He had to stop being so naïve and actually start taking this seriously because of what Malty did to him. He knew that his back was seriously against the wall and he was far behind everyone else as he couldn't even kill a monster on his own. He wouldn't be able to trust anyone after this again. But he knew he had to steel his heart in order to survive. "Fine. Where do we go?" Naofumi asked as if he had swallowed a bitter pill.

Elhart turned to look at Naofumi in shock as well. "You can't be serious.." He grunted and gritted his own teeth before relenting again and shaking his head. He then looked over at Tyrus with a hardened gaze that could unnerve lesser men, but it didn't seem to faze the soldier in the slightest. "Fine. Do whatever you want, but I don't agree to any of this. You better treat them right or so help me I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

Tyrus met the older man's gaze head on unflinchingly and nodded. "You won't need to worry about that, I'll put a bullet in my own head if I ever do." He then looked over at Naofumi and nodded to him. "We're behind the eight ball on this one, and it's a race against time to survive. We better get going, Naofumi. We have far too much work to do if we want to survive here." With that, Tyrus turned around and started walking out of the shop without another word. Then Naofumi followed right behind him with heavy scowl on his face as well.

**XxXxX**

"Oh my! It's both the Shield and Bow hero here in my humble shop! How can I help the both of you? Would you perhaps be interested in my merchandise, finally?" Beloukas asked with pure excitement in his voice that unnerved both Naofumi and Tyrus as he saw them enter his tent. The man was completely surprised to have seen both the Shield and Bow heroes in his shop so soon after hearing about the charged crime to the Shield hero earlier, but it was a most welcome development for him that he wouldn't turn down.

Naofumi scowled even more than before as he clearly didn't like this man or his business. But he had to swallow his pride here because he knew that he was desperate after everything that had happened to him so far. "Shut it. I just need someone to fight for me. Just show me what you have so I can get out of here." He groused out in response to the short man just wanting to be done with this before he regretted his decision.

Tyrus for his part was having an internal struggle with this decision about whether this was right or wrong. He knew it was wrong on all accounts to be buying a slave, but he didn't really have many options left available to himself or Naofumi. "It's as the man beside me said. Just show us what you have Beloukas so we can go. We don't have time to waste on idle chitchat because we're behind the eight ball here and we need an out quick."

Both Naofumi and Beloukas looked to Tyrus with a curious gaze at his odd phrasing but chalked it up to being an American and Otherworld phrase respectively. Beloukas shrugged his shoulders and his cheshire cat grin returned full force as he turned on his heel and waved his cane to them both. "Well follow me lads my dear heroes so we can get you two situated!" He then started walking from the main lobby of his tent towards the back area where it was darker and there were cages filled with people that looked like animals.

Tyrus and Naofumi looked on in horror at the people that were in the cages and could just see how miserable and malnourished the slaves looked. There were some that had bruises all over their bodies and they were all in tattered rags that looked ready to fall off at a moment's notice. It made them both want to throw up as they could feel the bile rising up from their stomachs as they noticed how awful it smelled once they got closer to the cages now. However, Beloukas continued on as if nothing was wrong with the same grin as always. He then came to a stop in front of one cage that was larger than the others.

When the pair of heroes looked inside they could see yellow cat like eyes staring back at them that was filled with pure hatred. They then heard a growl and noticed exactly what they were looking in finally. It was a muscular wolf man that had several scars on it blue furred body that looked as if he was ready to go on a hate filled rampage at any given second. Looking the wolf man over more they both noticed that its level was more than three times their own as it was level 75 compared to their level 1 and 2.

This caused Naofumi to turn a sharp gaze towards the man and scoff at him in disgust. "You're showing us your best merchandise first because you know we can't afford it." Naofumi watched as the man smile at him and tap his cane a few times on the ground. "Tch. Just show us something we can afford already." He had picked up on being a somewhat decent merchant from his time of playing the few online games that he managed a guild from. He had gotten more enjoyment out of being the merchant for the guild as well as being the leader.

Tyrus and Beloukas were impressed by the younger man's deduction and Beloukas grinned even wider at that. "Oh ho! I really do like a client that knows their stuff and what they want! You two are quickly becoming my favorite customers!" Beloukas said with a tap of his cane on the ground. Tyrus just felt a scowl working its way onto his face at those words as he wanted to just be done with this place forever from this point forward. But they went onward anyway leaving the blue wolf like creature alone in the cage now.

After a little while of walking and looking at the slaves that were up for purchase, the trio came to a set of cages that were further away from the rest. Naofumi pulled a tarp off of one and saw a pink eyed young raccoon girl with long but ragged orange hair. Tyrus saw that the girl looked like she was on the verge of death due to starvation, sickness, and the bruises she had all over her body. Naofumi saw all of this and looked the young girl in her eyes, and saw something that made him somewhat angry as his body trembled with silent rage. But, he pushed it aside and looked over to Beloukas next. "How much for this one?" Naofumi asked as he watched the girl shiver and cough with her fear.

"Hmm.. This one? She's on the verge of death as is, but alright. I'll make you a deal on 25 silver." Beloukas said with a grin as he looked the girl over as well, but then turned to the larger black man next. "And what about you, my dear Bow Hero? Have you found yourself something you wanted?" Tyrus clicked his tongue as he watched Beloukas tap his cane on the floor of the tent and two very buff looking guards came out and took the girl out of the cage.

"No.. not yet." He growled out as he hated himself watching as Naofumi started to walk off behind the two men now. The man was seriously conflicted with himself and all of this about whether this was the right thing to do or not, as he looked through all of the cages. He noted that a lot of furry looking people in them were looking back at him with either looks of fear and utter defeat. After some more time, he had noticed that Naofumi and his new party member had already left as he was told by Beloukas.

After looking through more cages Tyrus saw something that stuck out to him among the others. It was a fox like girl that had white fur all over her body with two sharp fox ears. She had a rather long tail that was white as well, and her body was so malnourished that it looked like was skinner than a twig and she would be carried away with the wind like a leaf. Tyrus looked the girl over and noted that she had one pitch black eye that looked like it would drown him in an empty abyss, while her other eye was missing behind a rather sloppy mess of bandages. Her body was covered in scars, but she held a fierce and defiant look about her that screamed she would attack anyone that got near her.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity in silence, but was no more than a few minutes. Tyrus walked closer and squatted down in front of the cage to get a better look at the girl that stared at him in growing agitation, evident by the fact that she had started growling at him intently to ward him off. Tyrus only stared at her and saw that she was shaking as if fighting off her own death or rather in fear, but she didn't let it completely show on her face. He could see this girl was a fighter with a strong will to live, and this was exactly what he needed for his party.

"Do you want to be free of this place?" Tyrus finally asked in an even but confident tone as he knew he had to try and sweet talk someone that was clearly not going to trust him.

The girls' ears twitched at first and her sole eye locked on with his in clear confusion as she was completely caught off guard by this. Her growling had stopped but she didn't say anything in response to Tyrus yet. The man though could understand this as he had seen slaves that had been just as bad off as this girl, and didn't believe they would be saved like this, but the difference here was that slavery was legal in this world. It was a natural part of this society so a lot of the slaves here wouldn't trust anyone so easily that came along offering them freedom.

"I'll ask you again. Do you want to be free of this place? If you come with me, I can guarantee your freedom and relative safety. It won't be easy, but I will make sure you never suffer through this again. So will you join me?" Tyrus asked once more in a slower and gentler tone as to try and get the girl to at least understand him.

There was silence from the girl as she stared at him as if searching his soul for any falsehood in his statement. Her body tensed up as her tail stood stiff behind her as if ready to attack. But her lips parted on her dirtied up face. "W… Why me?" She finally asked having given some thought to this proposition that was put before her. She wanted her freedom, just like the others there, but the harsh reality of life told her to never trust anyone at all under any circumstances.

"The honest truth is that I was summoned to this world as the Bow Hero. I need people that can become strong enough to help me and in turn I will do whatever I can to help them as well. I need people I can trust to watch my back, and in turn I will watch theirs. I don't expect you to trust me or believe me, but I need help. But most of all, out of all the others I've seen in here, you haven't given up. You look like you will fight to the bitter end." Tyrus laid everything out there for the girl in the cage and he could see some more life shine in her black right eye.

"I…. I want my freedom." The girl finally answered as she coughed a few times. She looked the large dark skinned man over, but she was still extremely wary of him. She didn't trust him in the slightest, but she knew she would be stupid to turn down possibly her only chance at gaining her freedom. She would fight to the bitter end as she tried to move but her body was screaming in agony from having eaten hardly a thing in nearly a week besides stale pieces of bread and water.

Tyrus grinned at her and nodded. "Alright. It's a deal. I'll get you out of here shortly and we'll get you into some proper clothes and a hot meal first of all." With that he stood up and turned around to find Beloukas standing there behind him already with a big grin on his face.

"Oh ho! So you want that one? She's been through the wringer and has a bit of disobedient streak about her. She's been through several masters already that found her to be more trouble than she's worth. As you can see by her scars and missing eye, they were especially cruel in dealing out punishment to her. I found her at an auction for rather cheap some time back. Fox Demi-Humans aren't all that common around these parts, especially one with white fur like hers', but just for you I'll part with her for let's say… 40 silver?" Beloukas did some quick thinking about the price and giving out a quick explanation about this girl.

Tyrus for his part took everything in and still wanted to strangle this man to death along with everyone else that thought slavery was ok in this world. But he simply nodded and bit his tongue and fought back the urge to vomit. "40 silver. Let's get this over with quick." He growled out in response as Beloukas tapped his cane and the same two guards came out and grabbed the girl out of the cage. And she in turn tried to fight them off with her dull claws while her hands were bound behind her back. She hissed and tried to use her fangs to bite at them despite how weak she felt in that moment.

"This is going to the death of me." Tyrus muttered to himself as he followed along behind the struggling girl and the men that had her restrained. He could see the tiny man in the top hat follow along as well with a massive grin on his face as he seemed quite pleased with himself but chose not to say anything until they were in another part of the tent that had a table with some equipment on it. He noted that there was ink on it as well a knife and brush.

"This is where we will do the binding of the slave and master seal. This way, your new merchandise won't be able to run off or attack you without suffering the punishment. But you're able to set how much pain this girl will feel as you like as well. You seem to be the sort of client that won't want to hurt her any more than she already has been. I can actually respect that about you, bow hero. But this is business for me so I'm in no true position to judge you or anyone else. Now then, enough of the morality crisis because I need you to add in some of your blood to this ink here and we can get started."

Beloukas said as he handed the knife over to Tyrus. The large man took it and made a cut on his finger without flinching and watched as his blood was added to the ink. He then looked on as the girl continued struggling to get away before locking her sole eye with his own. She bared her teeth at him but he didn't look away at all. He knew that this could be considered a betrayal already on his part when he told her that he would give her freedom. But she growled after a moment and stopped struggling after a moment having decided to accept it, if it means she could be free soon.

Beloukas then applied the slave seal onto the fox girls' right bicep without delay and both men watched as the seal glowed brightly for a moment. Then they watched and heard as the young fox girl scream and thrash around against the men holding her as the ink burned into her skin. This caused Tyrus to turn towards the short man with a heavy scowl on his face. "This seal of yours causes them pain just to apply it? I'm seriously considering crushing your fucking windpipe right here and now you penguin bastard. If not for the laws of these lands, you would already be dead." Tyrus growled out as he kept his shit together long enough for this whole ordeal to be over with.

The top hat wearing slave merchant's grin remained the same but he was sweating profusely and took a step away from the large soldier. He knew this man wasn't a fan of him and his business and seemed unhinged enough to seriously follow through with his threats of ending his very life. "T-This is the only time it will happen. I'm not the one that even came up with this mind you, and I assure you that the slave seal can be taken off at any time you choose to do so. Though as of right now I wouldn't recommend it, at least not in this country." Beloukas decided to try steering the conversation away from himself and onto the seal instead.

"What do you mean?" Tyrus asked now having found that line of information somewhat intriguing as the girl in front of them had finally stopped in her thrashing as the pain subsided now.

"Well. Within this country there is a law that states that any slave human, and especially demi-human, are to be executed should they be found without their slave seals or owners nearby. So essentially the slave seal is more for her protection as well as your own depending on how you set her restrictions." Beloukas stated in a matter of fact tone of voice now.

This caused Tyrus's eye to twitch in annoyance as he released a sigh and shook his head in frustration. "And who created this law?" He asked as he walked over to the girl and tried to inspect her but she took one look at him and started growling at him to which he frowned heavily at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt you. I'll get you some food and clothes soon. I'll see about some medicine as well." He uttered a sincere apology to the young girl as she stared at the much bigger man.

"Well that would be none other than Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. He instilled this law some years back once he came into power once he married into royalty." Beloukas said with a shrug of his shoulders as he watched the young man inspect the demi-human he owned now.

Tyrus growled but let it go for now as that was a matter for another day. "This just gives me one more reason to hate this asshole. Alright Beloukas, we're done here." He said as he grabbed his sack of money from his pocket and pulled out 41 silver and placed them on the table. He then walked back over to the girl and kneeled down in front of her. "Hey… We're getting out of here. But first I need to know what your name is. Can you tell me what your name is? I promise you that I won't hurt you and I won't let anything bad happen to you anymore."

The fox girl stared at the man with a scowl on her face as she slightly recoiled away from him in fear. She heard everything he had to say and her scarred ears twitched a few times as she heavily weighed her options now. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that she could outright run away with how she had been branded with the seal. But she was tired of all the lies, promises of a better life, and the abuse of her previous owners. She did notice one thing about this one that was completely different about the others. He had asked for her name, not forced her with the slave seal to tell him. All the others had never bothered to ask her or to force her with the seal. If this bow hero, as he claimed to be, was asking for her name rather than forcing her, then she might be willing to take a single chance on him. It wasn't like she had any other choice in the matter.

"Z… Zevela. My n-name is Zevela." Her raspy and slightly broken voice called out in response with the same scowl on her dirty and scarred face. Her single black eye watched this man in front of her intently for any sort of reaction now.

This caused Tyrus to give her a bright and warm smile and reach out a hand to pat her head gently now. "Zevela? That's a nice name. I'm Tyrus. Tyrus Owens. From today onward, you and I are partners, Zevela. We aren't slave and master, we are partners and I promise to do everything I can to take care of you."

The girl flinched heavily once she saw him reach out his hand towards her, but noticed that he was smiling at her with kindness. She didn't trust it in the slightest as she had seen this type of smile in the past only to have it turn wicked shortly after. But she also noted that he was petting her head with a light and gentle touch but again she didn't trust it as she remembered this happening from one of her previous owners only to have that kindness turn into brutality only a second later.

"Partners?" She questioned this word heavily as she found herself getting swept up in this man's pace. But she lightly shook her head and backed her head away from the petting he was giving her. She didn't trust him and never would. She had no trust in her heart for anyone at all anymore. She would use this man to gain her freedom and or be killed at some point soon.

Tyrus nodded to her and stopped petting her once she jerked away from him. He gave her the same warm smile as he tried to disarm her long enough so they could leave. "That's right Zevela, you and I are partners. That means that I won't make you do anything that you can't handle and I will do anything I can to help you grow strong enough to gain your freedom. But I need your help with the waves. I can tell that you can and will grow strong and I think I can make you strong enough to never let this happen to you again, but in return I ask that you help me as well. We watch each other's backs from now on."

This caused the girl to go wide eyed as she had come to understand that she would be used to fight the waves now. She growled at him and jumped back from him. "No! I won't die for you in the waves! I knew I couldn't trust you! You're nothing but a liar! You won't give me my freedom! The waves are nothing but a death sentence! You might as well just kill me right here and now damn it! It's nothing but a living hell!" She shouted out in a raspy and strained tone of voice as her thin legs were shaking in pain. Her body was so thin and frail that she was ready to keel over at any given second."

Tyrus frowned and shook his head as he stayed at her eye level watching as she had gained a wild and desperate look on her face as if she were ready to make a break for it. "I'm not asking you to die for me, Zevela. I'm asking for your help in the waves. I promise you that you won't die so long as I'm around. Give me just one chance and I promise you that I won't let any harm come to you." Tyrus tried to reason with the small girl now, while Beloukas watched the two of them in an odd silence and fascination.

The fox girl bared her fangs and dulled claws at Tyrus in an attempt to defend herself. She couldn't trust him or his words. He was trying to get her to walk into the living hell that is the waves. She had survived one and wanted no part of them again if she could help it. "No chance! I can't trust you!" She screamed in pain as she was seething with anger and pain as she was finding it harder to stand and breathe with each passing second now. She didn't know what was going on with her body, but she noted that the pain she was in was growing by the second. "I… It hurts!" Her heart was racing and it was pounding in her ears now as she could start to taste blood welling up in throat.

Tyrus was growing more and more worried by the second as he noticed that her body was starting to go into shock due to her recent actions. He wasn't a doctor, but over his years of service he had taken a few classes on basic field medication and saw that she needed medical attention soon. "Zevela… I need you to calm down. Please. If you don't, you might die. I need you to just listen to me… Zevela? Zevela?! Zevela!" Tyrus called her name a few times in heightened alarm as he watched her collapse on the cold hard ground now. This caused him to move to her to try and save her life.

"S-Stay away from me… I c.. I can't.. t-trust.. you." This was the final time Zevela the fox demi-human would say anything to her newest and last owner, Tyrus Owens.

**XxXxX**

**And scene! Yeah. Living you all on a cliffhanger! Aren't I just the worst? This should have been out and finished weeks ago. Despite how long it took, I actually like this. So yeah, Zevela is a fox demi-human, but she's not so easy to trust anyone. But she might not live long enough to see her trust anyone again. Who knows? I was debating on how I wanted this to actually go. But maybe I can make the next chapter without it taking so long next time. **

**So, Ciao for now everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10 Partners

**Alright, alright, alright! Well here we are again with the next chapter of From Soldier to Hero! Here's the thing about me. When I write stories, I write them with the intention of killing off characters at different points. Life is in no way shape or form fair for any of us. We must each fight and struggle to make our way through life, and my stories aren't exactly for the faint of heart. This particular story isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows every step of the way. The characters in them will have to fight tooth and nail for survival as they do in the canon story, but I don't pull any punches here.**

**I understand that isn't for everyone and I understand that will make people drop this story on the spot. But this is how I prefer to write my stories. For those that stick with this story I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I hope you all enjoy the wild ride I have planned with this. But I can say for absolute certain that this story WILL have an ending that I already have planned out. I just have to get to that point. So time for some reviewer shout outs!**

**Adis: Heh. Here's the thing about that. I never actually stated that she was dead. I left it vague on purpose, but you'll be finding out in this chapter if she's actually dead or not. But the point of introducing Zevela in this manner was to show that everyone is mortal and can die at any second. Also life isn't very fair and won't care what you want in the end, so you have to struggle and fight for it. You aren't entitled to live just because you're here. Harsh I know, but that's just a fact that a ton of people seem to forget.**

**Ascandas: You'll be finding out this chapter if she did or didn't die. Read on and find out! **

**VGBlackwing: While that is an interesting idea, I can't say that I will do that type of crossover story. I don't know the character Erron Black well enough to feel comfortable with doing that. I have to know the character I'm using as I feel like I would want to do an accurate portrayal of their personality and responses within a different setting. **

**Boomburst128: Exactly. To a little girl that's a slave and been through what's she's been through it makes sense that she would rather die than fight in the waves. Not everyone is like Raphtalia to where they can just grin and bear it like that. Also the King is far more of an asshole because he's the one that implemented that law rather than Beloukas. He's just doing a business despite how scummy it is. You have to remember that the Queen was the one that sent Beloukas to Naofumi in the first place to help him.**

**Hitman101: You're most welcome cool cat! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D**

**Marco794: Weeeelllll. You'll have to read and find out if she lives, but I will agree that Tyrus needs this.**

**ILiekFishes: You make good points about Tyrus demanding a refund if she died on the spot in front of Beloukas. And you're also right about Tyrus returning her, but think about it this way for a second. He could get another slave sure, but from what he's seen of them, in his opinion they have low potential to become strong enough. He could set them free but then what? He's making an investment for the future that he needs a good payout for. He doesn't have that many options to go off of and a lot of time to work with. He's making the best of a bad hand he had been dealt.**

**Cj1of4: Different world. Different rules. Tyrus doesn't have the option or time to fight against an entire kingdom and save them on top of surviving the waves alone. He's only one man and it would be impossible for him to do everything on his own. A slave that is given the chance to have their freedom will fight much harder than someone simply seeking glory. **

**OberonHK96: You'll have to read to find out! Hehe. Maybe she will live or maybe she will die. Who knows?**

Disclaimer: If I owned it I wouldn't put it here. Do I really need to put this down every time? I want to stop writing this damn disclaimer that I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero, but I do own my own original characters.

**XxXxX**

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 10: Partners?**

The second that Zevela fell over in pain, Tyrus was next to her in a flash as she was breathing heavily. He knew that he didn't have time to really ask questions as he could tell that she had finally succumb to her injuries. It had caused her body to go into shock as her eyes were dilating and she was convulsing in his grasp now. "I'm not going to let you die. Not like this." He muttered as he picked the young fox girl up now.

He spared the short man a quick glance as he stood up with the young girl in his hands. "We're done here, Beloukas. I need to get this girl medical attention right now!" With that he ran towards the exit kicking up the dirt behind him upon his exit. Tyrus knew there were two places he could go, but he chose a safer bet that would yield a better result for what he needed at the moment. A few tense minutes of running with the convulsing girl in his hands through the busy streets of the capital lead Tyrus to his intended destination.

Slamming into the door and having it swing wide open; Tyrus looked around frantically and spotted the person he desperately needed to see. He was slightly relieved to see the old and shocked face of the apothecary, Brenham, looking at him as if the young man had grown a second head. "What in the devil?! Tyrus?! What is going on boy?! What's your god damn problem that you have to nearly take off the door to my shop?!" The man was filled with questions and alarm that his shop had been barged into in such a manner.

Tyrus was breathing hard but he couldn't relax just yet. He needed to save the girl that was crying in pain and shaking furiously. "Brenham! I'll explain later, but first I need you to save this girls' life! She's gone into shock from past injuries and her body is breaking down on her! Please! I need your help! I'll pay you anything!" Tyrus pleaded with the old grouch as he rushed up to his counter and gently set her down for the man to inspect.

Brenham grunted and went wide eyed as he saw the girl up close now. She was an absolute mess as she was covered in scars from head to toe, much in the same way the young man that was carrying her was. The only different was that her scars looked far newer and her body was so thin that you could see her bones just below the skin. "Bring her to the back and put her on the bed. Go get that old witch here too, because my potions can only do so much on their own and work over time. Her magic will be more useful for healing her immediate injuries. She doesn't have long to live though from the looks of things."

Tyrus picked Zevela up without a word and ran behind the counter and opened the door and saw the bed. Placing the young girl that was whimpering in pain as her breathing was shallow and erratic; he noticed that her injuries were starting to bleed now. "Fuck. Don't you dare die on me here, Zevela. I promised you freedom and I'm going to make good on that. Nobody else will die on my watch ever again if I have a say in it." He muttered as he spared the young girl a single look before turning to go find Matilde. As he exited the shop and saw Brenham enter the door behind his counter, he bit his lip hoping that the old man would be able to help her.

He put that out of his mind for the second as he made his way through the streets again passing by people in a mad dash to get to the witch's magic shop. Tyrus was there in minutes and he opened the door, walking in this time rather than throwing it open. As he walked in he noticed the woman was reading one of her spell books, but looked up once she heard her bell to her shop ring out. She went wide eyed at seeing the young man she had met the previous day return to her shop so soon. But before she could say anything he had already started speaking.

"Good, you're here! I need your help immediately, Matilde! I have a young Demi-Human that's on the verge of death with me. She's at Brenham's shop currently receiving medical attention, but he told me to come get you to help as well because your magic can help save her life. Her body has gone into shock from all of her injuries she's sustained and doesn't have much longer to live. Please, I need your help! I'll pay you absolutely anything you want!" Tyrus explained quickly as he was panting heavily pleading to the older woman now hoping that she would help him.

Matilde gasped slightly before nodding and grabbing some of her things. She looked at the younger man with her violet eyes for a moment then shook her head. "My word, not even a hello from you or a how I'm doing? You definitely owe me an explanation for this later, young man, but for now we have someone to save. I'll take you up on that offer about payment after we save this demi-human." She gave the young man a sly smile as she exited her shop quickly and went with him back to Brenham's shop.

Once they were back at the apothecary's shop Brenham came from the back and nodded at the two of them and waved them to the back of his shop. "What in God's name has happened to this girl, lad? She's been through hell and back. She has contusions and sickness on top of her scars. She's so malnourished that she's literally skin and bones! Matilde, I need you to cast your magic on her so she can start recovering some of her health while I force these potions down her throat to give her a better chance at living. Lad, hold her down because she's jumping too much and I don't want to waste my potions!"

They both nodded and got to work immediately on doing as they were told by holding the girl down and casting healing magic on her. Tyrus watched the old man uncork two bottles that were filled with two different liquids and force it into Zevela's mouth and massaged her throat to make her swallow it. The girl coughed several times as she still struggled against Tyrus's firm grip on her body. The green glow around her body was working to seal up her external bleeding wounds while the potions were working to heal her internal bleeding at the same time.

"Come on, Zevela. You can't die on me here. I refuse to let anyone else die on me ever again." Tyrus muttered as the girl still thrashed in his grip, as he noticed her starting to sweat now. "Brenham! Can you bring her a cold rag?! I think she's breaking out in a fever now! Her external bleeding has stopped, but I don't know about her internal bleeding. Matilde, you're doing a great job please keep it up." He grunted as he still kept his grip on her but moved one of his hands to check her pulse now. It was still somewhat erratic but it was a lot better than before when he had checked it before leaving Beloukas's tent.

Matilde had cast several more spells on the young demi-human girl trying to speed up her recovery and to get her out of critical condition as soon as possible, but she wasn't a cleric so she was stuck to using low tiers of weak healing magic. This entire process of keeping this girl from dying was starting to drain her of her magical energy, but she wouldn't just stop until she knew this girl was safe or dead. "How did this even happen? I've never seen someone like this before. This is awful!" She huffed out as she had just finished casting a chant for a fast heal spell for the seventh time since they had started.

"I'll tell you everything once she's stable. But for now we need to keep her from slipping further into shock or a heart attack. Her bleeding has stopped at least for now." Tyrus muttered to the old witch in response as he checked her pulse then her forehead. He noted that she was heating up and was sweating more and more by the second now. He noticed that Brenham had come back soon with a bucket of water and some rags as well cup. The old man took the rag and wet it up and dried it out then placed it on the girls' forehead. He then took the cup and filled it with the cold water from the bucket and placed it to the girls' lips then forced her to drink it slowly bit by bit. "This should help with her fever, but I don't know if she's going to make it lad. How did this girl get like this and where did you even find her in the first place?" The old apothecary finally had to ask as he forced another potion into the girls' mouth now.

Tyrus sighed as he checked her pulse once again and found that it was getting more and more stable. Her fever was running, but she wasn't in immediate danger of slipping into cardiac arrest anymore. It seems that her body had stopped bleeding as well, but he needed to get the girl food to deal with how she was nothing but skin and bones. He turned to the two oldest people in the room and started telling them everything that led up to this current moment. By the time he was done, he could see the looks of anger and shock on both of their faces, but he didn't know if they were angry with him.

Matilde sighed as she frowned heavily at Tyrus after hearing the young man out. She shook her head slowly but kept her gaze squarely on him with the frown. "I'm not angry at you for resorting to what you had to do. I knew those rumors about the Shield Hero raping a girl were too outlandish to believe at first, but I gave it some thought and wasn't sure if it was true. But hearing it from you as you were practically there… It's hard to believe that the princess would set up a hero like this."

Brenham grunted as he watched the girl on his bed. "It's hard to really believe, but if it weren't true you wouldn't have busted down my door like you did screaming for help. You're going to be paying for the door if it's broken by the way. But buying a slave is hard to accept even it is legal here in Melromarc. But you seem as if you care about her considering the way you kept saying you weren't going to let her die." Brenham gave an exasperated sigh as he shook his head while looking at the girl. "This is too much drama for me at my age. Well at any rate, this young lass here is stable for the time being. She's running a fever now but she's through the worst of it."

Tyrus sighed at that and smiled brightly at both of the older people. "Thank you so much for all your help. I'm indebted to you both more than you could possibly know. But now, I have to wait until she wakes up then we will be out of your hair. I'll be sure to fix that door for you, Brenham. I can't possibly ask anything more of you two than you already have done for me as of now, and I will do everything I can to make it up to you both." Tyrus said with pure sincerity and relief in his voice as he looked at the little fox girl that was sleeping much more steadily in the bed next to him now.

Matilde let out a sigh and shook her head for a moment. She then let out her airy laugh and waved her hand off. "Don't worry about it, dear. It's nice to see that you have a good heart and you're willing to go so far to help someone in need. You can bring her to my shop and I will keep watch over her there. I know you have to get yourself ready for the waves that are to come, so you can go out and level up, but make sure to come back to check on the young girl here."

Tyrus looked on at the old pudgy lady with wide eyes at that. "I… I… Thank you, Matilde. I hate to impose on you anymore than I already have. I owe you so much and I will make good on it one way or another. But it's just as you've said that I need to get ready for the waves. It's still early in the day so I'll take you up on that offer right now. Hopefully Zevela will wake up soon so we can get her properly treated and get her strength up." With that said Tyrus walked over to the girl and picked her tiny body up in his arms carefully and started to walk towards the exit to the shop.

The old witch started to follow along behind him but was stopped by the apothecary with a withered look on his face that showed off his age. "That boy is something else huh? Who else would really go out of there way like that to save a slave's life? Not any that I've ever come across that's for sure. I think he has the makings of a fine hero, but he's rough around the edges with that attitude of his. Though, from all the rumors surrounding him about threatening the king and princess, I imagine that there is still something to him that we don't know. I'd keep my eye on him just in case." The man huffed with a tired smirk on his face having remembered his first run-in with the brash young man.

Matilde looked at the man with the same smirk as she gave off an airy laugh once again while waving her hand dismissively. "The key word there is rumors you old goat. There might be some truth to them in some regards, but it's as you've said. He's a good boy and he has the qualities of a good hero about him. While I can't say I'm particularly fond of him using a slave, I can understand his reasoning for doing so. He doesn't have many options available to him after everything that's happened. The most we can really do is hope for the best for them both and help in any way we can. After all, we need him to beat back the waves for us old folks." With that said, Matilde turned and followed the young soldier out of the shop.

**XxXxX**

After a short walk back to Matilde's shop and placing the young demi-human in a bed in the back, Tyrus had entrusted the care of the young girl to the witch while he was gone. With the near death episode over, he noted that he was further behind everyone else in levels and time was shortening down on him. Until Zevela had woken up, he had to go it alone and grind out their levels faster and harder for the both of them until she could join him proper.

So with gun in hand, being that he had the bow transformed into one of its gun forms, he went out into the fields solo for the time being. It was roughly early afternoon and he had a lot of ground to cover. So he found himself running through the open grassy fields aiming his gun at any creature that was foolish enough to get in his path. Gunshot after gunshot rang out in the open field as balloon after balloon was popped over and over. He noted that the amount of experience he was receiving for each one had increased from one to about fifteen.

At first he was in awe about this but he came to the conclusion that without the other heroes around, the amount of experience he received wasn't being penalized anymore. This was good news for him, as he could quickly level himself and Zevela up this way. Tyrus also noted that Zevela was getting experience as well despite her not being near him, but rather because she was in his party. Though she was receiving less than he was, it still helped that the girl would receive experience. That also gave him the thought to test how far the effective range was and how much she could receive.

Within the hour of being in the open field alone, Tyrus had earned enough experience to level up to three and Zevela had gotten enough experience to get to level two. The man wanted to go further and get even more as he was feeling good, but he couldn't stray too far away because he had to get back to the magic shop to make sure that Zevela was alright. Though he decided that he would keep going for a little while longer and just farm off the balloons. So with his plan in mind, he took aim at the balloons and started shooting them left, right, and center. Getting the popping noise he had become accustomed to hearing, but he noticed that the experience was starting to lower with his increased level.

To him that was fine at least for the moment as he would make it up by switching guns as he had increased the current one's mastery level and noticed that the stats were being applied directly to his overall stats as well. This caused him to grin as he was going to use everything he could to his advantage to become as strong as possible. He had also noticed that he had been getting tons of items from those balloons, though they weren't of great quality. From the games he had played in the past, he knew that starting monsters didn't usually drop good items, but in vast quantities they would be good selling material.

He had also taken the time to absorb the monsters he had killed and fully unlocked the orange bow to use. As much as Tyrus didn't want to, he knew he would have to set aside time to fully master how to use the bow to its fullest potential. He knew his guns would only carry him so far on their own and while he couldn't use his combat knife that was in one of the compartments of his body armor, he could still use his martial arts for close range combat should the need arise. Maybe he could teach Zevela how to use a knife instead? She did look like she was a close range type of fighter from the way she tried to attack with her claws.

He stopped in his mindless and systematic killing of balloon after balloon to really think about the girl. He had noted that another two hours had passed and he was now level four and Zevela had risen to level three. He wanted to keep going, but he figured that three hours was enough time for now to stop and take a break to go check in on the girl. He still had to try and get her to really go along with him into the waves. He could tell that she truly didn't want to, but he needed strong fighters on his side that had the will and capability to push past their limits.

"Wait that's not how this is going to work at all. I can't think of that girl as a soldier like myself or anyone else I've come across in the past. She wants no part in this fight, but I can't exactly let her go now because of how weak she truly is right now. If I let her go she'll just be captured again or killed. I'd rather have her with me so I can protect her, but if she won't join me then I'll just train her up and let her go…" The military man sighed to himself and shook his head as he made his way back to the capital town and headed through the merchant street.

He noticed that he was getting stares of disgust and fear from the people he was being forced to protect, as it seemed that the false rumors were spreading in full force now. He only frowned and ignored them as he made his way to the magic shop to find the witch nowhere to be found. Tyrus found it out so he called out for the old lady. "Hey Matilde I'm back!" At first he didn't receive a reply for a moment only to have the door behind the counter burst open to reveal a frantic looking witch.

"Tyrus! Thank goodness you're back! Get in here immediately!" The woman shouted in her unusual tone of urgency as she rushed back in to the other room a second later. This of course left Tyrus completely confused and alarmed as he rushed to the back and through the door himself. What he saw left him in complete shock as he hadn't expected to see Zevela sitting up with a heavy scowl on her face as she was looking around the room that she currently was finding herself in.

"Z-Zevela! You're awake!" Came the relieved voice of the black soldier but he was completely surprised that she was awake so soon after having her body go into shock like that. He had expected the malnourished girl to be asleep for at least another day at minimum. "I'm so glad that you're up so soon. We can get you something to eat and get you some actual clothes as well." He tried to give the girl a bright smile in hopes that she would return it, but he knew better from their previous interaction that she wasn't having any of it.

Zevela proved this immediately by locking her only eye with him and started growling at him with the same heavy scowl that Tyrus had come to accept at this point. "Yes, I'm awake. Why did you save me despite telling you I'd rather die than fight the waves?" She noted that the old woman was looking at her with a shocked expression about how this girl could still be so rude despite having her life saved. The fox demi-human didn't care about this in the slightest however as she only sneered at the woman before turning her attention back to her new owner. "Well? Do you plan on forcing me to fight and die for you?"

Tyrus sighed and shook his head ignoring how rude this girl was being, but it wasn't unwarranted as he had seen slaves that had been broken in the past become untrusting of anyone. Most however were happy to be free of the slavery they were forced into, but technically this girl wasn't free as she still had the seal on her which brought her under his control should he use it. "No. I don't plan on forcing you to fight and die for me. I told you before and I'll tell you again that you and I are partners. I will set you free just like I promised but stop and think about it for one second, Zevela."

She narrowed her one good eye at him as her tail stiffened behind her at this as she let out a hiss at him. "Think about what?! If you were going to keep your promise and give me my freedom, then do it now! Remove the seal on me and let me go!" She shouted at him though it was straining her voice to do so. She was hungry, tired, and still in pain but at least she wasn't dead. Wait a second, that's right. She wasn't dead. This human had saved her life instead of leaving her to die. "Partners… You used this word again, human…"

"That's right. I did. It's like I told you before. I won't let any harm come to you while you're with me. You will gain your freedom and you have it now. But it's like the slave trader said before, any slave caught without the seal on them or their owner nearby will be executed on the spot. As much as I would love to let you go, you would be too weak to defend yourself as you are right now. Plus, where would you go and what would you do on your own? Do you have any sort of family?" Tyrus asked now trying to get the girl to see reason now.

That seemed to have caused the fox girl to stop in her tracks and give them both a strange look. She bit her lip and sighed then slowly shook her head looking down at the bed she was sitting on. "Not anymore." Zevela muttered out in a bitter tone as she gripped the sheets of the bed now. "Partners huh? I don't want to walk into those living hells… I would be better off dead." She muttered to herself before looking back up to the man that had purchased her. "Will I truly be free?" She knew she really didn't have much choice in the matter as this man could have forced her into doing anything he wanted her to do because of the slave seal. But he was going to great lengths to treat her as a person and he had went through all of this to save her life as well.

Tyrus nodded without a second thought. "Of course Zevela. You have my word that so long as I'm alive I'll do everything within my power to make sure that no harm comes to you and that you will gain your freedom. I'll make you strong enough so that you can walk under the sun without anyone being able to put a scratch on you. I know you don't want to deal with the waves, and I wish I didn't have to, but I really need your help however. But, if I can't get you to join me, then I'll let you go. But give me a fair chance here, partner." Tyrus said with a smile on his face as he looked her dead in the eye.

Zevela looked at the strange man in front of her and before she could say anything else, her stomach made a loud noise answering for her. She let out a gasp and blushed heavily looking away in embarrassment now. She held her stomach as she could hear some laughter coming from the man and the old lady in the room now. "D-Don't laugh at me damn it! I'll kill you! Uggh!" She shouted while still blushing but before she could make good on that threat her stomach rumbled again in protest for the need for food.

Tyrus stopped laughing and held up his hands defensively and nodded at her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But let's get you something to eat and some actual clothes. Can you stand and walk on your own or do you need help?" He asked with genuine concern in his voice as he tried to move closer to the girl to see if she needed help walking. He was surprised as she threw the sheets off her body and jumped off the bed with a defiant scowl on her face. But he let out a sigh as he saw her instantly fall over to the floor. "Ok, so you need some help. You don't have to act so tough all the time. It's a good thing that you feel you don't need help, but that's what a partner is for. To help you when things get rough and you can't handle it on your own."

The girl looked up from her new spot on the floor as she let out a low growl. She allowed herself to be picked up by this much bigger man with a slight growl in her voice but didn't do much more than that. She huffed and looked away from him as her stomach growled once more which caused her to blush even harder than before. "F-Fine! I get it! Can we just get something to eat now… please?" Zevela relented finally as she could feel the hunger pains catching up to her ten times over now. She hated everything about this and wanted to just die, but this was apparently her new life. She would never admit it, but this human was treating her far better than anyone has in her entire life. Even if she was being used to fight for him, it was better than everything she had been through over the past several years.

Tyrus nodded to her as he stood up while carrying the young girl in his arms now, and looked over to the old witch with a small smile on his face. "Thanks again Matilde. I'll be sure to be back later to pay you for everything you and Brenham have done for me." He watched her wave him off dismissively as she went about to leaving the room to go back to the front of her shop now.

"Aha. Don't worry about it, dear. You just go get that young lass something to eat now. You have much bigger problems to worry about that this old witch. Just come back when you have the chance to do so. I'll teach you both about magic later when you're ready." The old witch let out an airy laugh once again as she watched her new favorite customer leave her shop now.

**XxXxX**

Tyrus could hear the girl growl while she looked at him with her single eye sitting across from him as they were waiting on their food. He knew that Zevela wasn't happy about any of the things that were happening to her and if he really could let her go free he would. But as things turned out he couldn't do so easily without a whole host of problems following along with that. He had taken the time to explain this in full to the white fox girl that was wearing a perpetual scowl on her face now.

The odd pair had gotten many glares and odd looks as they had entered the restaurant that had banned demi-humans from entering. The sign was posted for everyone to see right on the entrance, but because Tyrus didn't understand the language yet, he didn't know this. But one of the waiters that had come to take his order tried to discretely tell him of this. This however caused the muscled soldier to fix him with the coldest glare he could which promised nothing but pure pain if he didn't wisely drop the subject and take their orders.

"Zevela… I've told you again and again that I simply can't let you go as you are right now. I don't know how many times you want me to say it, because we're doing nothing but going around in circles with this conversation you know? You and I will be partners, and I will make you strong enough so that you won't have to worry about anyone harming you anymore." He said in an exasperated tone of voice as he waited on his food. He then thought about it and decided that he would make an attempt to get to know the girl a little better. "Why don't you tell me a little more about yourself? What happened to your family?"

Zevela for her part kept her scowl up and she knew that everything he told her made nothing but sense, but she wasn't going to just accept it. She truly felt that she would rather be better off dead than dealing with any of this right now. "Hmph! I know that you bastard. You should have just left me to die. I still refuse to fight in the waves and die for you. If you aren't going to give me my freedom here and now, then your words are completely hollow." But she blinked only once as she heard the question from him about her family. "My family? Why would you want to know about that? That shouldn't matter to bastard that bought a slave right?"

Zevela wasn't shy in the slightest and she proved that she was quite intelligent in her own right. Although she was a native of this world and still being only a child, she seemed to have been far more experienced than she should have. This was absolutely a mystery to Tyrus that he felt he needed to figure out about this girl if he was going to get her to work with him eventually. He couldn't exactly talk as he had his own secret that he was keeping from her about his death at the hands of Briggs. He would be returning after these waves were done and choking the life out of him before he died again.

"Well, it would be nice to get to know more about you. You're not shy in the slightest and you're pretty damn smart. A lot smarter than a lot of the people around here, yet you're a child. It's rather odd if you ask me. Maybe you were from sort of noble family huh?" He asked trying to peg the girl just as their food had finally arrived. Tyrus noted that Zevela's tail stiffened up just as their food had arrived, and she slightly narrowed her eye at him. To him it seemed as if she were gearing up for some sort of retort but her stomach growled heavily in their stare off and it gave way to a blush on her face instead.

"Don't you dare laugh at me again or I will be jump over this table and gouge your eyes out, bastard." Zevela growled out as she started eating the food in front of her in silence now. She watched her new owner in silence to see if he would laugh at her again because she would definitely carry out her threat despite the slave seal placed on her. She may be forced to fight with him as his so called _partner _but she didn't have to like it in the slightest right now. But she was pleasantly surprised as the man hadn't laughed at her again like she thought he would.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to make that mistake again, Zevela. Just enjoy your meal. After this we will be getting you out of those tattered rags and into something more decent to wear and getting you situated with some proper gear that you can use to fight with. And please, don't attack me with it ok? Even if I set the slave seal restrictions to as low as possible, it wouldn't do for us to be fighting each other right now. We need to focus on getting stronger as soon as possible together. I did get you to level three already while you were out of it, but having you with me to fight will get us stronger far faster than me going solo." Tyrus was doing his level best to keep his cool around this young girl, but she could still work his nerves just like anyone else. It was starting to show as he was becoming a little more direct with her than before, but he let out a sigh and shook his head to let it go.

The girl blinked a few times as his attitude seemed to turn serious despite how kind he was being before. She felt that she may have been pushing her luck a little too far and she decided that she would stop antagonizing the man that held her life in his hands. As she started eating, Zevela had contemplated how her life was possibly starting to turn around now after everything that's happened to her so far. She could say that she was actually fairly lucky unlike a lot of others in her position. In retrospect she was grateful to this man that was actually giving her food and that had actually saved her life. It was conflicting for her that she had been saved and given food compared to every previous owner that had only beat her and scarred her body. Maybe she could actually take a chance on this human, but time would tell for that.

The meal was shared in a contemplative silence between the both of them as Tyrus thought about their next move and Zevela thought about how she would actually get her freedom and this man that owned her now. Tyrus had finished his cheap meal and looked at the girl with a tired smile now. "Alright Zevela, now that we've finished our meal it's time to get you out of those rags you're wearing and into something a little better to wear."

Zevela had finished her meal and was feeling much better with some good food and medicine in her stomach now. But she wasn't ready to trust this guy anytime soon yet. She remained silent with a scowl on her face again, but merely nodded her head, refusing to say anything to him. She noticed the man in front of her only smile despite her refusing to say anything to him. She watched him get up and started walking towards the exit without another word and she reluctantly got up and followed behind him with an annoyed growl in response.

**XxXxX**

The next hour was spent inside of Elhart's weapon shop as he met the young fox demi-human and he had to say that the girl was worse for wear. He had seen how badly dressed the girl was and how she was heavily scarred. Though he noticed how she was looking at him with an intense anger that promised nothing but pain despite her diminutive size. He had looked over at the younger man and shook his head at him.

"This girl looks like death, kid. I still can't believe that you and shield boy went and bought slaves. Well I suppose you want to get her equipped just as the other one did huh? Well I don't have much as this isn't a clothes shop you know, but I can offer some stuff I have. You would be better off going to see that young tailor girl, Tammy instead then come back here for weapons and actual armor."

Tyrus nodded at this and looked over at the girl that was staring at the weapons now then back to the blacksmith. "Yeah you're right about that actually, but we should at least get her a weapon and armor to start with. We'll deal with fashion later when we have more time and money. I'd imagine something light and easy to maneuver in that won't hinder her speed. I'm going to have to train her to fight with a weapon and how to fight, but it won't be impossible."

They both turned to the girl only to notice that she had disappeared from her spot. This drew alarmed gasps from the both soldier and blacksmith as they started looking for her. They started calling out her name but got no response in return from her. Tyrus was starting to freak out on the inside but kept his cool on the outside as he continued to look for the girl. _'Shit! Did Zevela make a break for it?! Where the hell did that girl go?! We would have noticed her walking out of the door because of the bell. I need to find her and fast! I knew she was smart, but she's still just a little girl!'_

After a few minutes of searching and calling for the girl she finally came out from one of the dressing rooms with her now trademark scowl on her face. But she was wearing a set of clothes that somehow fit her tiny twig like frame. She was sporting a white sleeveless shirt and black pants with black boots. Her white tail was out and waving behind her at a slow pace as she stared at the two larger men with nothing but annoyance for having been interrupted. She had black gloves on that were studded at the knuckles like Tyrus's and they were cut at the fingers revealing her still dull claws.

She also had a white sash around her waist that helped hold her pants in place. The fox demi-human had even removed the old bandages and replaced it for a wrap around her head at a diagonal angle that slightly messed up her long unkempt white hair, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest about that. What was most surprising, however, was that at her hip she had on a belt that held multiple daggers inside of multiple sheaths.

"Will you two bastards stop shouting my name? I can hear you two just fine you know. I'm missing an eye, not my ears. Hearing you two hairless apes shout like that actually hurts because my hearing is sharper than you humans." She huffed out in agitation as the two older men stared at the tiny girl speechless now. As she started walking towards them both she growled at them but let out a cough quickly after which caused her to frown.

"Z-Zevela? What the hell is with the outfit and the weapon? And who the hell are you calling a hairless ape, you tiny midget!" Tyrus retorted back instantly his insult back without thinking which got the sharp eye of the girl on him instantly and a growl from her. Despite her being a little girl and seeing that she was still skin, bones, and full of scars he could say that she was actually intelligent enough to know how to operate without direct control. It had thrown him off guard slightly as he had expected this from the young girl.

Zevela felt the need to roll her one good eye as she sighed at the man. "I didn't think you were actually this stupid, but I'll need to reevaluate that. The _reason _for this outfit and weapon should be obvious enough on its own. You're forcing me to fight for my freedom and this is what I'm comfortable with right now." She crossed her arms and then sneered at him with a growl. "I dare you to call me a midget again and you will be missing your head from your shoulders, _slave seal be damned_. _I will end your life;_ you cock sure sack of shit." She left her threat hanging in the air seeing if her new owner would actually attempt to harm her and prove that she couldn't trust him.

Elhart decided to intervene before things turned violent as he could see Tyrus actually about to rise to her threat as he was gearing up to say something. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder and kept a firm grip on it. "Alright, alright you two. That's enough of that. She's gotten herself out of those rags and apparently she's good to go with a weapon as she picked it out herself. I'm not sure exactly how this little girl knows how to fight but whatever. You'll need to pay for her items here and now and get out of here. You don't have the time to stand around arguing with each other as you need to get stronger for the waves. For everything she's gotten, it's going to run you about 25 silver."

Tyrus for his part merely nodded while staring the girl down before a grin spread over his face. "Heh… Zevela, you remind me of a friend that was very near and dear to me. I'll say that much. You two act so much alike that it's actually a little scary to think about. But Elhart's right, we can't be at each other's throats like this. Let's get out of here. Oh, and before I forget how much longer will it be till mine and Naofumi's orders are done?" Tyrus asked as he took out the money and handing it over to the bald man without issue.

Elhart counted the money out as he noticed that the girl was still staring at the two of them, but had a slightly shocked face as the man didn't seem to take her bait. He let out a hum in thought and shrugged his shoulders. "Give me about two weeks. I'll have them both done before the wave starts since you both paid on the same day ahead and you gave me the blueprints for them as well. It shouldn't be too much trouble since I don't have anything else to focus on currently. Now get going."

Tyrus nodded and started to walk out of the shop followed behind by a hesitant Zevela who could only stare at the man that owned her life currently. Tyrus had one more place to go before they could start training. He needed to do something about Zevela's missing eye and that wrap would only last so long, so he decided to go see the tailor about making her an eyepatch for it. Zevela for her part simply remained silent refusing to say anything else again which would serve as her main way of getting under the soldiers' skin and provoke him.

The pair had gotten to the tailor's shop and Tyrus had gone about telling Tammy everything that had happened thus far. To his surprise the girl was more understanding of his situation than he had anticipated from her as she gave nothing but the brightest smile to the girl that stared at her as if she were an alien. Zevela had wondered how a girl like Tammy could be so hyper and positive despite being told such a depressing tale like that, but she chalked it up to humans being completely weird.

Tyrus had told Tammy what he wanted done in getting an eyepatch for Zevela to which the fox demi-human did a double take at that. It wasn't the first time that she had found herself in disbelief that anyone would go this far for her. She merely scowled without saying a word as the tailor waved her hand and set about getting the measurements to make the eyepatch. Zevela stared at the girl that was getting close to her and taking more measurements than needed and growled at her now. "Are you done yet, weirdo?" She asked in a very curt tone after having had enough of this girl being so close to her.

Tammy just let out a laugh and nodded as she backed away. "Just getting your measurements for anything else you may need in the future! Just wait a moment and I'll have this done in a snap!" The glasses wearing blonde said with a bit of a chipper tone as she quickly went off to get her task done.

Zevela raised an eyebrow at that and turned to her owner with the scowl on her face again. "Why are you doing all of this? Just tell me right here and now you dark skinned bastard. What's your end game huh? Why go through all of this for a mere slave that you're just going to force to fight for you in that death trap called the waves huh? Why waste the money and time on me like this?" She growled out having finally had enough of what she assumed was false caring for her actual wellbeing.

Tyrus shook his head at her accusations and sighed slightly. "I'll say that I do have an end game in mind. But you won't need to worry about that actually. It won't involve you or anyone else that gets mixed up with me in the future. You'll be a free girl just as soon as I feel you're strong enough to take care of yourself. If you're that adamant about going away, then I'll set you free. No tricks, no lies, nothing. It's irrelevant to our current situation but just know that we're partners now and I'll honor our deal even if it kills me."

Zevela narrowed her eyes and was about to say more but the other girl came back soon after and presented her the eyepatch. Zevela looked at it in silence and then took it without a word. She turned to find a mirror and began taking off the wraps on her head then replaced it with the black eyepatch that, had a white crescent moon in the center of it. Zevela stared at herself in silence and felt her lips twist upwards slightly into a smile for the first time in a very long time. But it quickly disappeared as she turned back to the man that held her life in his hands.

"_Fine. You get one chance…_ _**Partner**_."

**XxXxX**

**And scene! So yeah! Zevela lives! And she's giving our boy Tyrus here one chance and one chance only to show that she can trust him! Oh boy this is gonna be a wild ride for sure. There is much more to Zevela that meets the eye and you'll be seeing what I have in store for her later on. She's a smart cookie that doesn't reveal too much than what's needed. She's obviously not shy or scared to challenge anyone, but will that be a good thing? Only time will tell!**

**I hope you all are enjoying this so far. I did say this would be a slow burn and I was hoping I would actually have gotten more action in than this but with the way I normally write, it takes time to build up. But we'll get there eventually! I'm glad that everyone is sticking with this so far. Please leave a review if you like!**

**Tyrus Owens' Theme: Boots to the Ground by JT Music**

**Zevelas' Theme: Armed and Ready by Jeff Williams**

**Ciao for now everyone!**


	11. Chapter 11 Harder Better Faster Stronger

**So yeah. We're half a year in and things are progressing. My birthday is next week as of the time of me writing this chapter July 24****th**** for anyone that cares. But I want to get at least one chapter out before that day because I will be going on vacation to California from the 24****th**** to the 31****st****. I'd like to ideally get two chapters out by then but that will be a stretch in and of itself. **

**But either way I want to get this one out as soon as possible. I do hope that people have been enjoying this summer so far. I wonder what everyone thinks of Zevela in this story so far. The one eyed kitsune is fairly bitter of a lot but I'm giving it justification hopefully for why she is the way she is. But on with the show!**

Disclaimer: If I did own Rising of the Shield Hero I'd no longer need to struggle with working in retail day in and day out sweating like a goddamn pig in the heat. I could laugh it up in a mansion collecting checks from being a successful writer like Aneko-Sensei probably does… Only in my dreams.

**XxXxX**

**From Soldier to Hero**

**Chapter 11: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger**

"_Too slow."_

"_I'll end you!"_

"_You'll need to get far faster if you want to end me. Also, you're getting frustrated too easily and it's making you sloppy."_

"_Die!"_

This was the conversation of two individuals that were sparring in the forests of the Melromarc kingdom. Tyrus had taken it upon himself to see to Zevela's growth and combat effectiveness after a few days had passed between them of grinding on the monsters and playing catch up to everyone else. He had decided that he had seen enough of her fighting style against the monsters and wanted to test her against a human opponent.

Tyrus was completely surprised to find that Zevela was far more competent with her daggers and claws than he first thought she would be. He figured that he would need to teach her how to use them properly, but the tiny girl wielded the multiple daggers with skill comparable to his own that took him years of training to master his own style. He had come to figure that the young girl was just a natural prodigy with the blade. He had questioned her on the matter after it was apparent that she was no amateur.

However, he didn't get much out of her as she refused to answer his question directly. She only told him that before she was a slave that she had picked up the dagger a while back and kept it with her for survival until she was captured. Tyrus could tell that Zevela wasn't telling him the entire truth as she avoided eye contact with him the entire time. But he wouldn't push the issue any further than needed unless it became a problem later. All that mattered was that she could fight and defend herself.

But for all of her natural talent, Tyrus had seen that Zevela had flaws that would put her in more danger than needed. Tyrus was a methodical fighter by nature and worked every angle possible to end a fight quickly and as cleanly as possible. Zevela was more instinct and emotion driven but could still work angles just like Tyrus could. Though she was overall more akin to a berserker the longer a fight went on losing her sense of reasoning. Tyrus had seen this when they had come across a particularly strong, for their levels, monster just the day before.

Tyrus had decided that he would remedy this as best he could before it became a problem later on by making her fight him. He would get her worked up and drag the fight out for as long as possible while intentionally taunting the young girl into making mistakes in her attacks that he would then punish with a few light jabs to show her where she was overextending in her attacks. He had only used hand to hand combat against her, as he didn't feel the need to use his legendary bow against a little girl.

"Zevela, you're really getting sloppy the longer this goes on. You're not going to hit me like this no matter how hard you come at me. I'll give you points for ingenuity and tenacity, but that only goes so far on its own." Tyrus calmly called out as he dodged another knife swipe with a bored look on his face. In actuality he was completely impressed by her drive to keep going. The girl was still fighting him going on nearly an hour and a half straight now. But, he could attribute it to the fact that they were grinding levels nonstop for days now. She kept up with him every step of the way which was damn impressive to him.

The girl grew angrier the more she looked at Tyrus's bored face. She had been going all out for so long now just to hit him and shut him up. But seeing that bored look despite her trying her best to gouge out his eye to match her own missing eye only infuriated the girl more with each passing second. She had gone at him from all angles she could think of but failed each time. She knew she was better than this bastard, but he was besting her at every step. "Fuck you, you cocky bastard! I've had enough of you berating me like this! Don't you dare look down on me again!" She roared as she decided to give it one last shot to shut him up for good.

With a snarl she sheathed her daggers and took out some of the throwing knives the pair had come across in their grinding yesterday and started off in a mad dash straight for Tyrus now. There was a wild fury in her single eye as she turned sharply to the right a few meters away from Tyrus and started to weave back and forth through the trees that surrounded the clearing they were in, in an attempt to confuse her enemy now. She noticed that Tyrus had taken up a stance to react to whatever she was going to throw at him, but she wasn't going to stop now. After a few more seconds of passing between trees, she started to throw the knives at the soldier from behind the cover of the trees.

Zevela saw the man react the way she expected him to by dodging the knives effortlessly, but that was just fine with her as she was baiting him anyway. The way she was throwing the knives were used to set up a makeshift spike field that would limit his movements. The small girl continued to throw knife after knife at the man all the while slowly but surely closing the distance under the cover of the trees. It was when she was down to her final three throwing knives that she threw one more at him and he dodged it as expected. Just as she was about to make her move to come out of the trees and rush him in a blitz, she noticed him looking directly at her and then sprint directly for her position.

She let out a gasp of shock having been completely caught off guard in thinking that Tyrus would stay put and let her attack like he had previously done the entire time. But the kitsune demi-human was completely in shock once more as Tyrus had caught her flat footed as he was on her within a second poised to strike and put her down with an emotionless expression on his face now. "Wha?!" It was all she could get out as she felt his fist, had implanted itself into her stomach now. The sudden and swift strike, albeit held back significantly, had left her completely winded as she crumpled to the ground in front of him.

"That was a good attempt and a smart plan. Limit my movement by throwing the knives into the ground giving you the advantage of area. But what would you do when I decided to move forward to you?" Tyrus asked as he helped the girl to her feet that was still slightly winded, but had a scowl on her face now. "I never said that I wouldn't move from my spot you know. Don't think for a second that I wouldn't move in after you. You also let your emotions and anger get the better of you the longer a fight drags out. You have great instincts and can come up with a good plan on the fly, but you're too much like a berserker which leaves you somewhat predictable and easy to manipulate."

"Shut up. I don't need your advice you bastard. I know how to fight. If my level wasn't so low I would mop the floor with your damn face." She muttered to herself letting out a sigh and shaking her head. Zevela had started to grow accustom to being around this man over the few days that she had known him. She had learned that Tyrus was a monster of a workhorse when it came to training and was fairly knowledgeable about combat in his own right. She would never admit it to him, but she did like the fact that he was serious about getting her stronger and he let her rest as she needed to. He had given her more medicine and food as she needed as well as provided her with new weapons from apparently nowhere when they were out in the forest.

Zevela could feel her body recovering with each level that she had gained and she was already starting to see the difference from just a few days ago. Tyrus had told her that she had gotten to level 12 after two days while he was still one level ahead of her. She was reluctantly impressed by his work ethic but she would never admit this to him, as well as the man was just as insane as she was. She had enough presence of mind to know that she was crazy and could admit that she had problems, but so did her current owner.

Tyrus cocked an eyebrow at that comment about her low level and decided to take the chance to find out more about his new partner. "What do you mean by that? You're saying that as if you've been at a high level before. I can probably understand why you would freak out the way you did about the waves when I mentioned them before as you seem to have survived one before as well, but your reactions and all of your comments aren't exactly adding up. I'll say that you think I didn't notice everything you've said but I've been keeping track, Zevela."

The girl narrowed her one good eye at the man as her ears twitched in agitation as she went about picking up her throwing knives after their sparring session. She didn't take her eye off him in the slightest and remained silent for the longest time trying to get him off the subject but seeing he wasn't backing down, she let out a low growl at him. "You're a perceptive bastard, I'll give you that much. However, this is a topic that you shouldn't look too deeply in to. You got me out of one hellhole and are forcing me into another one."

Tyrus sighed and shook his head at that having decided that he wouldn't let this go. "Honestly, you should tell me what's going on with you, Zevela. I may actually be able to help you out with whatever it is that's troubling you. You're holding on to a lot of anger and hatred and its showing in the way you're fighting and acting. Remember what happened with the golem we fought yesterday at the end of that dungeon? You went into such a blind rage that you nearly got yourself killed because you couldn't do any damage to it. If I weren't there to drag you out and snap you out of it, you would have been dead. I can't have you doing that again, so we're going to talk this out whether you like it or not."

This got the girl to bare her teeth at him as her ears twitched again and her tail stiffened again. "You're really going to force me to talk now?" Her tone was even but held a dangerous undertone that Tyrus didn't ignore. Zevela could see the scarred man looking directly at her from his standing position only a meter away as she was holding a few of her throwing knives in her hands. She was starting to grip them harder as her mind was racing with thoughts of her past coming back to haunt her now. "You want to know the hell I've been through that badly huh? You first then, you hypocritical bastard. Don't think I couldn't tell that something is off about you as well. You want to play the righteous hero, but here's a lesson for you. _**Kitsunes are more attuned to nature and the emotions within one's hearts.**_ So don't think you're going to be a hypocrite here with me by saying I'm the only one that has issues."

This got Tyrus to go wide eyed at the young scarred girl as he looked her dead in the eye. He should have known that something was up with this girl, but he didn't expect that he would be called out like this so soon. This got an honest smirk from him that put the girl on more guard as she watched him. His smirk then turned into a chuckle before it became outright laughter at that point. "A hypocrite, huh? That's the last thing I want to be called for sure. Alright, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you everything if you agree to tell me as well. We really can't go on like this if we have this much hatred and anger building within us. We can set up camp for the night and call it here."

This got the girl to watch him with her normal trademark scowl as she slowly and reluctantly nodded her head to him. She could use the rest after the fighting they had done that day and she felt somewhere deep down that he was right about needing to talk to at least one person. She still hated the idea of agreeing to anything this guy wanted her to do. But she was slowly but surely warming up to him whether she liked it or not.

**XxXxX**

After the two had set up camp for the night and Zevela had gotten some food in her thanks to Tyrus and his not so bad fishing and cooking skills. The two had sat in relative silence for a while with the only sound between the two of them was the campfire letting off sparks every few minutes. Tyrus had finally let out a yawn and looked the young girl over for a minute. He could say that she had started growing over the past few days. Her skin and fur looked healthier than it had been and her wounds had started making a fairly astounding recovery that seemed medically impossible.

He had been giving her regular doses medicine, rest, and food in between their training but the girl was still keeping up with him throughout it all. She had complained about him personally calling him a bastard all the while, but she never once actually complained about the actual fighting monsters or the blood she had spilled. She had seemed to shrug it off and went about business as normal, and that had been something of an eye opener for Tyrus. He didn't expect the young girl to seem like she was battle hardened like she was.

"Well? Are you going to keep staring at me like a creep or are you going to start explaining yourself?" Zevela asked with the same scowl on her face that Tyrus had grown accustomed to at this point.

The man in question shook his head and sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you. But you're going to tell me in return. The difference between me and you is that I've been trained to keep my emotions in check… Although as of late, it looks like I'm a failure in that regard. As I've said before, I'm the summoned Bow Hero that's meant to save this world from the Waves of Calamity. I've been summoned with the other three heroes as well; as I'm sure you already know all that."

Tyrus could see that the girl nodded as she was getting interested in listening as she didn't say a word but urged him on to talk. "Well, the thing is. Before I was summoned here to this world, I was killed in my own world, killed by someone I considered being like family to me. Not only was I killed, but my entire team was killed. I was a soldier in my old world and so was the man that killed me. He betrayed me and all of our comrades for some reason that I'm still trying to figure out now. Remember when you asked me about my endgame plan?"

Zevela went wide eyed at that bit of information. She remained completely silent but hung on every word this man had spoken now. She could understand why his heart and soul was swirling with a deep seeded hatred that was ready to explode at a moments' notice. But he kept it in check just enough to function around her. She didn't understand why he didn't just outright kill everyone on sight however. She definitely would have… well she had tried that actually. She did however nod at his question having remembered that previous conversation.

"Well, my endgame plan is that once the waves are dealt with, I will go back to my old world, find the man that killed me and my comrades and end his life. It's not revenge for me, but for them." Tyrus pulled out the three dog tags and held them up for Zevela to see. "The names of my comrades are engraved on these here are what's driving me to keep going. I'll go to whatever lengths I have to in order to get back and find him, then end his life. But I'll make sure that my anger doesn't get the better of me again. I'm no saint, but I'm not about to endanger yours or anyone else's life if I can help it."

Zevela sat in shocked silence after hearing everything he had to say. She had a ton of questions she wanted to ask him but she felt she could do that later. This was a lot to take in for her, but she could understand him. "I…. I see. I understand. I can understand where your anger comes from now. You're similar to me." She sighed and shook her head as she closed her eye and sat in silence for a moment. "So that's it huh? Revenge? Not for yourself but for the people you cherished. I guess we aren't so different after all. Alright so it's my turn then."

Zevela cleared her throat and drank from a pouch of water that she had collected from the nearby stream earlier. "Well, I can tell you that I'm after revenge as well. So we have some common ground between us. However, the difference between us is that I'm after revenge for myself against my family." She narrowed her eye as she watched her owner carefully now for any sort of reaction. She had said that she would give him a single chance before and she had meant that. She had decided to place her trust in him and go all in come hell or high water after he had saved her life despite wanting to die. Well with this second chance at life, she would take it fully and embrace it now.

She couldn't explain it completely why she was easily telling this man anything of her past, but something in her told her to. The feeling aggravated her to no end, but she would figure this out even if it killed her. "I'm over _300 years old_ and I was once the head of my clan. I was stabbed in the back by my sister after I assumed control of the family. I beat her in single combat and then she literally stabbed me in the back in my sleep then sold me off to slave traders. She then assumed control after that and I haven't been home ever since. That was roughly a few years ago."

It was Tyrus's turn to be completely floored into a shocked silence now. He listened to the girl… that wasn't right. He listened to the _woman_ that spoke about a betrayal much like his own. The difference was that she knew _why_ she was betrayed unlike him. He could understand Zevela was bitter and angry despite her young looks. But something didn't add up for him about all of this however. "Ok, so I get it. You were betrayed by family as well, but what does your low level have to do with this, and the waves?"

Zevela rolled her one good eye at him and shook her head. "You can't be that dense can you? I was sold to slave traders and I was violent. They took me to a Dragon's Hourglass and reset my level back to 1 as a way to bring me under their control. This is usually done to criminals and slaves as a punishment in this world to keep them weak and unable to fight back. I was passed from owner to owner and regularly tortured. The scars started to pile on one by one, and because I was weak from my levels being stolen away, my body couldn't handle the abuse, but I refused to die. I finally hit my breaking point just as I met you, thinking that I would never be free to get my revenge."

Tyrus grit his teeth at this and let out a low growl but kept himself in check as he saw the girl eyeing him warily. But he shook his head and motioned for her to continue on. To which she did after a bit of reluctance.

"Well, the last owner I had… He was a fat blonde noble with a pig like face. He was the nastiest one of them all. The pig bastard was the one that took my eye. If I see him again, he's a dead man." Zevela declared as much while still watching her so called partner to see if he would turn on her as well. But to her surprise he was staring right back at her with a hardened look on his face. It didn't seem to be directed at her so much as it was directed towards whatever direction he was looking at past her.

"Who am I to stop you from getting revenge when I'm after the same thing?" Tyrus eventually said after a chilling long silence between them. He had said as he hardened look softened up towards her. "As I've said before, I'm no saint and I won't pretend to be. I was tasked with saving this world, but that doesn't mean I have to save the people in it. I'll help you go after your revenge Zevela, but I need your help so I can ultimately get my own revenge. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're my partner and I'll make sure you get your freedom."

This caused the 300 year old woman to go wide eyed at this as she had expected this man to be angry with her. He had expected her to try to kill her with the slave seal or tell her to not go after revenge as it wouldn't be worth it. But she had listened to his story and to his heart as well. She could tell that he wasn't lying to her despite what she wanted to believe in the worst about people. She shook her head and let a small barely noticeable smile cross her scarred face. "I get it. I get it. So we're both using each other as a means to an end, is that it? But we're stuck in this hell together so we might as well make the best of a bad situation."

Tyrus shook his head at that as he decided to stoke the fire a bit more to keep it going. It was getting towards the middle of the night and there were still monsters and animals out that were looking for their next meal. "No. You're my partner and that means that we will help each other out, not use each other. We will achieve our goals by working together and trusting each other as partners should. We will work harder than anyone else around. We will be better together than we were separately and we won't let our anger control us again. We will be stronger than everyone else. And we will be faster than anyone around so that nothing will ever touch us again."

Zevela looked at Tyrus as if he was stupid but she tilted her head slightly at this as her ears twitched again. "That was incredibly bad, but I understand what you mean." She said as she turned away from him, she let out a sigh and muttered under her breath. _"Thanks… Thanks for saving me."_ She muttered it so low that it was barely a whisper and she just hoped that he didn't hear her say it.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Nothing. I'm going to sleep. You take the first watch." She muttered trying to bring back her irritation to save face and keep up her scowl. But she just couldn't find it in her currently to do so.

Tyrus muttered to himself for a few minutes at this before letting out a slight yawn. The events of the past few days events were starting to catch up to him. For as much of a walking battery of energy he could be, he still needed rest as well. But, he would let his partner sleep first since she was still in a worse state of being than he was. He had decided that he would take this time to inspect his menus and his weapon while he had the chance.

Tyrus opened his status menu and looked through his stats. He could say that he was surprised at the rate the pair was working at as he sat level 13 while Zevela sat at level 12. His stats weren't that bad off, but he knew he would have to get stronger than this. The number of bows that he had acquired was skyrocketing as he absorbed the materials from the monsters they had defeated. Somewhere along the way he had decided to skin the monsters he had killed and separate the bones from the meat and skin of each one. This had earned him triple the amount of bows he had at his disposal. It came in handy as the points were starting to really add up from each separate bow.

His list of guns was still the same as he hadn't added in anymore of his spare ammunition to the bow however. Tyrus would wait on feeding more bullets when Elhart had finished making him more. For now he was using them sparingly as they were a great boost to critical damage against a monster. However, after fighting the golem yesterday, he figured out that he would need armor piercing bullets at some point to take down armored opponents in the future. He would commission the blacksmith for that the next time he was back in the capital.

He had learned much of the worlds' logic followed many of the similar mechanics from the various games he played over his years of life. Though, he didn't mistake this world as simply being a game because the monsters that they had killed bled and cried in pain as they fought. He knew that this was wrong, but if he wanted to survive he would need to do what he had to do. He found out that the monsters dropped items, weapons, and even money that were deposited into his inventory automatically. This had greatly increased his and Zevela's grinding efficiency as he found daggers, throwing knives, swords, and all sorts of weapons in his inventory that hadn't been there previously.

He had also started saving the meat that his bow didn't absorb that he could use for cooking later when they were in a bind when out in the wilds and couldn't forge up any food. It gave him the chance to also practice his cooking skills that he hadn't put to use in quite some time. While he was in the military, he would normally eat from the mess hall most of the time as the money was deducted out of check for the service automatically. He didn't like it, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He wasn't a bad cook when compared to Pepper, but he wasn't exactly Gordan Ramsey either. But he noticed that some of the bows he had increased his foraging and cooking skills rather than giving him outright attack or speed stats. He was thankful for this and vowed to keep up with his newfound knowledge.

The rest of the night had passed on in this manner of Tyrus pouring over the knowledge of his stats and skills in silence while keeping watch for any signs of life that might try to attack the pair. At least until he woke Zevela up to inform her that it was her turn to take watch. She wasn't happy about it, but she had been much less snappy at him compared to before as the fox woman merely grunted and set herself to watching the fire while he slept.

**XxXxX**

"_We're being followed. I don't know what you did, but you've attracted the attention of someone powerful. I heard them last night as they were stalking around outside of our camp."_

"_I know. I figured that out when I last argued against the king of Melromarc, Aultcray Melromarc the 32__nd.__ But, as we are currently, we can't fight them without losing our lives. They seem to be content to just watching us though and hopefully it stays that way until we become strong enough to confront them head on."_

"_The king of Melromarc… Tch. Fine. Then let's get stronger and hopefully we can lose them or cut their head off and be done with it already."_

This was the conversation as the odd pair found their selves walking through the woods early that morning after a relatively peaceful night of rest and coming to a real understanding of one another. Although Zevela had eventually come around and warmed up somewhat to her new owner, she still didn't like the fact that she was still going into the waves with him. Tyrus for his part also hated the fact that he would have to make her go into the waves as well, but they needed each other more than they realized if they wanted to both their revenge against the people they hated.

It was this fact of common ground that they both wanted revenge that drove them forward together as partners rather than apart as enemies that got Tyrus to thinking about the future. The way that they fought didn't exactly mesh well together as he was a mid to close range fighter with his guns, bows, and CQC, while Zevela was mostly a close range fighter with her still dull claws, daggers and throwing knives. He needed to come up with a way for them to both use their strengths effectively in combat or else they would simply get in each other's way and both end up dead.

So with this thought in mind, he looked around and found another cave as they were walking by and grinned slightly. "Alright, if we're going to get stronger, then we do it as a team from now on. We need to come up with a way to fight effectively together rather than separately. It's good that we can each hold our ground separately, but there will come situations where we will be forced to fight as one rather than two. In the military that I was part of, they preached about teamwork like it was a religion along with versatility and adaptability. Well we're going to start working on that from now on."

This got the fox woman to slightly raise her eyebrow in curiosity at this and she let out a low hum in thought. She didn't outright hate this man anymore after their previous talk the night before, but she still didn't like him. He was giving her the chance to get her revenge and if she had to work with him to get it, then so be it. "Alright.. We'll try it your way. What exactly do you have in mind?"

Tyrus grinned at her and nodded. "Well there are a number of ways to go about doing this actually. For one, we will start using hand signals and sounds for whenever we can't talk to each other or we need silent communication. Next, we'll be working on strategies and combination attacks as well formations to better coordinate our movements in a fight to end it quicker. Unfortunately I don't have access to magic at the moment, but when I have more time to learn it, we'll try working on combinations involving magic and we'll both be learning it along the way as well."

This got the demi-human to roll her eye at him. "I see. You're actually pretty smart but you're still lacking it seems. You can't use magic and you call yourself the legendary bow hero? Pathetic. Again, I'm far older than you, human, and I know how to use magic. I had my levels reset but I haven't lost access to my spells completely. I'm just not strong enough to cast them currently. We're burning daylight as it is, so can we get on with training already or are you going to stand around with your thumb up your ass all day?"

This got a twitch of annoyance from Tyrus but he ignored it for the most part. "Alright, well first things first. We'll start with hand signals and key words for formations and attack patterns. Then we'll plan on how to take out whatever is in that cave over there." Tyrus then proceeded to teach Zevela the types of combinations they could use together over the next few hours.

**XxXxX**

Bow hero and his demi-human companion were skulking through a dark and dank cave in total darkness in the middle of the day, but that was just fine with them as they were on the hunt. The pair didn't have a light between either of them as they slowly made their way through the cave searching for any form of life that was looking to end their own.

They didn't need a light as Zevela could see in the dark due to her inherent traits as a fox as well as her sense of smell and hearing were heightened to not needing it to begin with. Tyrus didn't need the light because in his past he never had any actual trouble of seeing in total darkness having grown up in the country portion of the United States as well as entering the military. There were tons of opportunities for the hardened soldier to hone his skills and sharpen his senses to the best of his abilities.

As they crept along the cave tunnel, the pair smelt a foul odor that got stronger the further in they went. They could also see dried blood splatters and trails that led further inward, but then curve around down a side tunnel. This got Tyrus to raise his hand in a fist as he instantly stopped and that caused Zevela to stop as well. It was one of the signals they had worked out as they were listening and waiting for any sort of movement from possible hostiles.

Zevela tapped him on the shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "This smell… It reminds me of goblins. It smells just like the little green bastards. They are usually in packs and live in caves like this. It seems that this group has been in this area for a fair bit of time if the trails of blood are any indication. These green little bastards will know we're coming despite how quiet we are, because they have a good sense of smell. I think we can take them, but not in here where they have the advantage."

This got Tyrus to narrow his eyes as he had a bit of knowledge of goblins from his own world, but he didn't know if he could apply his knowledge here as this was going to be his first time running up against a real goblin. "We'll try to take out as many as we can quietly, and retreat out of the cave to draw them out to a better position to fight. Let's move." As he whispered this out he started to round the corner to take the second path that the trail of blood was leading towards, but was stopped again.

Zevela sniffed the air as her ears twitched again picking up the sounds of tiny feet scurrying about behind them. Her good eye went wide in alarm as she let out a low hissing noise at Tyrus. "The goblins are behind us already! They know we're here! We need to move now!" She shouted as their cover had already been blown so there was no need to stay quiet. As she turned to run out of the cave, she heard the distorted and chilling laughter of the little green monsters as well as saw their glowing yellow eyes looking down at them both. She saw that there were at least 10 pairs of eyes looking down at them from the top of the cave and more sets of feet coming their way. "They are up above us!"

Tyrus grit his teeth as he pulled out his legendary bow that was in the form of a 9mm Springfield 1911 pistol. It was one that he had unlocked back on his first day but lacked the level requirement to wield until he got to level 10. Turning around to aim up in the direction of the sets of eyes, he started taking shots to either scare the goblins out of their position or to kill them. All the while giving cover to Zevela to let her move and give her orders. "Alpha, Delta! Bravo, Romeo, Charlie, Mike!" Tyrus shouted out seemingly random words that confused the goblins that were listening and scattered from the roof of the cave least they wind up dead like the first two that he had shot at.

Zevela let out a hiss but nodded understanding at this as she pulled out her throwing knives and started running in the direction of the exit. She didn't like this, but she would do what was needed in order to grow stronger and get her revenge. She let out a snarl as she turned and tossed one of her knifes at a goblin that was fast approaching behind Tyrus's back. The creature was hit dead between the eyes and let out a howl of pain but didn't die as these goblins were two to three levels higher than her.

Tyrus grit his teeth and continued firing shot after shot as he started his own retreat per his orders now. He didn't like that they were so far outnumbered and the goblins were higher level than them both. But he figured that he could bottle neck them back at the entrance of the cave after having antagonized them enough by killing some of them off to pursue him and Zevela. "That's right you fuckers! Come get some!" He shouted as he started taking off in a sprint once he thought Zevela had gotten far enough away after giving her enough of a distraction.

Zevela didn't stop running as each step seemed to get heavier to the scarred woman. She was running as fast as her scarred legs could carry her as she needed to make it to the entrance soon so she could cover Tyrus as he made his own escape to lead them into the deathtrap that was waiting. As she ran she heard more feet sprinting behind her and more of those insufferable gunshots that was a major pain to her ears. But she put up with it if it meant she could get stronger in the end. After another minute of running she reached the entrance and she was met with the full light of the day. She instantly spun on her heel and faced the entrance of the cave with a light smirk on her face ready to end this fight.

Tyrus was not having a good time as he had come up with a plan that he hoped would have been better executed. But the first phase of the plan was put on the backburner and he had to skip to the run like hell phase and draw out the enemy. He took many potshots to delay the goblins from getting too close to him while still keeping them on hot on his trail as he made his way back towards the entrance. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel and smirked to himself for a second as he took one more shot, but it missed the horde of goblins that were getting smarter about dodging his shots now. But that wouldn't matter in a second as he shouted out to his partner. "Zevela! Do it!"

"Roger that!" The fox woman shouted out as she let out a low breath and started her chant. _"I, Zevela of the Kitsune Tribe, who commands the origin of power, have read and deciphered a law of nature! Rain down flames upon my enemies! __**Zweit Fox Fire!**__" _Just as she finished her spell Tyrus had sprinted out of the cave diving to his left just as the fire shot out from Zevela's hands towards her intended targets being the hoard of goblins that was hot on Tyrus's heels. The girl heard the distorted screams and cries of goblins as she continued pouring her mana into the spell to burn each one and kill them off.

Tyrus had gotten out of the way quickly as he could feel the intense heat licking at his backside now. He got to his feet and pulled took aim with his legendary bow that was in the form of the gun and started firing off round after round of bullets into the cave entrance adding the firepower of his bow to Zevela's fire spell to kill off each of the goblins. Tyrus ignored the screams and smell as he shot each goblin that was burning alive. Tyrus saw that each goblin was on average of level 15 with a few of them being higher or lower they didn't die instantly to her fire spell. So he decided to shoot them down before Zevela's mana bar depleted completely and they came out of the cave starting a fire with their bodies or they had many more goblins that they would have to deal with.

The minutes that the two were taking to kill off the hoard of goblins that poured out of the cave seemed to drag on for hours but in actuality took only minutes. It took a total of five minutes to deal with what they thought was the entire hoard of goblins. Zevela finally ended her spell and started breathing heavily as she was feeling the drain on her body much more than she should have. But it was chalked up to the fact that she was still low leveled overall.

Tyrus decided to take the chance look at their statuses as he thought he had a moment and grinned heavily turning to look at Zevela now. He gave her a thumbs up and then held his hand over the yellow jewel that was embedded into the grip of his gun. Then two bottles popped out and he tossed them over to the girl which she grabbed without a thought. He watched her look at them in confusion to which he nodded at her. "Drink those as they will restore your stamina and mana. We aren't done yet and we may need to do this again if there are more inside. Get ready to move once I take care of these goblins."

Zevela nodded and downed them quickly, but as she did she could hear footsteps coming from inside of the cave. They were much heavier than the tiny pitter pattering feet of the small goblins from before. This caused the scarred fox woman to hiss as she watched Tyrus start going over the charred and bullet filled bodies of the goblins. Before she had a chance to warn the man of a new possible threat, she watched as he was sent flying away from the dead bodies and clear out of the clearing into the forest a good distance away. "TYRUS!"

The 300 year old woman was shocked completely as she seen what had sent the man flying with just one hit. It was a hobgoblin and it was a big one. This one stood taller than Tyrus by a full head at least and wore only a loincloth and a few leather armguards. In one hand it had a giant wooden club and in the hand a buckler shield that was bloodied and worn down from use, one that it obviously picked up from an adventurer that it had killed before. It let out a few grunts as it looked around at the scene before it. The large monster saw the charred bodies of its smaller brethren then looked to see Zevela staring at it in slight fear. The hobgoblin had a look of displeasure on its face that slowly morphed into one of rage which was followed by a bestial roar of pure rage.

Zevela hissed as she felt her body start to tremble in fear. Wait, that shouldn't be right. She shouldn't be afraid of a mere hobgoblin despite it had enough strength to send her owner flying away like that. As a matter of fact, why did she even call out his name like that in the first place? What did it matter if he died? This should have been her chance to bolt out of there and escape on her own if the guy was dead right? But why wasn't she moving then? Why was she staring at this ugly green son of a bitch with unmatched fury now as he started walking towards her now? She didn't understand why she found herself drawing her daggers and she had started walking towards this hobgoblin now as well.

"I'm going to skin you alive you putrid smelling fuckwit! _**HOW DARE YOU KILL MY PARTNER!**_" Zevela definitely didn't understand why she was seeking revenge for that dark skinned bastard that had saved her life or when she had grown to accept him, but she was angry. Far angrier than she had ever been before in her life and she was going to take it out on the one that caused her anger.

**XxXxX**

"FUCK!"

Tyrus couldn't help but shout out as he was sent flying out of the clearing. He screamed as his back hit against a tree and then he hit the ground hard. "FUCKING HELL!" He couldn't help the curse as he reached behind him to try and alleviate the pain in some form or fashion as best he could, but it wasn't working. He looked at his health bar and noticed that he had taken a hit that took nearly half his entire bar of health from him. Gritting his teeth he took out two potions from his legendary bow and downed them quickly as he could.

Whatever it was that hit him, had hit him hard and was still back there with Zevela. It fucking hurt like all kinds of hell but he needed to get back to her and fast. As he got hit, he noticed that whatever it was level 25. The both of them had recently just leveled up to around 23 but it was still stronger than them. Getting to his feet he started off in a sprint despite the pain that was shooting through his entire body back to the clearing and cave where he left Zevela. As he was running he changed his pistol to a much harder and heavier hitting assault rifle that he had copied on his first night there, the M16. He would need the firepower over mobility to deal with this.

**XxXxX**

"Is that all you got you fat bastard?! You only good for one a sneak attack huh?! You can't hit shit you slow piece of garbage!" Zevela roared out in rage as she dodged another dangerous but slow club swing from her larger opponent. She used the opportunity to get in close and slash at the hobgoblins knees several times before backing off. She would have smirked as she watched the slow witted beast let out a roar of pain as its leg began to shake from all the damage he was sustaining. But her anger demanded retribution for what happened to her partner. "You're going to die here and now you big green shit stain!"

Zevela moved in again with her bloodied daggers ready to attack and take the hobgoblin down for good this time, but she was caught off guard as the hobgoblin reached out its deceptively quick hand and grabbed hold of her by the throat this time rather than swinging the heavy club. With a strong hold on her tiny body the green beast started to squeeze hard on her body which caused Zevela to scream out in pain now. She struggled to get herself free by trying to stab at its hand as best she could, but it wasn't working. She was good and caught this time.

The hobgoblin was set on crushing Zevela with a victorious smirk on its face as it listened to the screams of the tiny woman in its grasp. Using his other hand, the hobgoblin was about to grab hold of Zevela's head and end this here and take vengeance on both of these creatures that dared enter his home and kill its kin. Just as it was about to grab the tiny creatures head, there was a shout which stopped him.

"HEY YOU UGLY SON OF A BITCH! _**LET! MY PARTNER! GO**_!"

Tyrus roared as he came back into the clearing in a flash while taking aim with his M16 in hand. He started opening fire on the giant green target that was in shock that the other enemy he had hit earlier wasn't dead. The next thing the hobgoblin knew after the scream was nothing but pure pain all over its body as it heard a loud bang that didn't end. Unable to deal with this new stinging and burning pain that was coming within seconds of each other, the hobgoblin let go of its captured pray finally in an attempt to block whatever this human was doing to cause it so much pain.

Tyrus noticed that it was a hobgoblin that had hit him and it was level 25 like he first saw. This wouldn't be easy for them but with their sudden increase in level they stood a fighting chance. He continued firing as he could see Zevela scrambling to get out of the way and catch her breath. He needed her to get to her feet and fast before the hobgoblin started to move. "Zevela! Fry this fucker now or we're gonna die! I need your help with this! Give it everything you've got!" He shouted as he could see the hobgoblin starting to block some of his shots now. Tyrus was still keeping it pinned down and was doing considerable damage on his own, but he needed something extra to deal with this one.

"Roger that! Alright you green freak, you've caused us enough trouble. Time to burn in hell! _I, Zevela of the Kitsune Tribe, who commands the origin of power, have read and deciphered a law of nature! Turn my enemies into ashes! __**Zweit Fire Squall!**__"_ With her incantation, Zevela let lose a torrent of large fireballs that pelted the hobgoblin continuously in quick succession in combination with unyielding hail of bullets from Tyrus's M16.

The large beast let out howls and yells of pain as it tried to swat away the bullets and fire that were pelting it nonstop until it eventually fell to the ground dead covered in the flames. Once Tyrus saw that it had hit the ground, he finally stopped shooting and screamed in pure pain as his injuries were catching up to him finally. The recoil from the continuous automatic firing weapon rattled his skeletal frame and hit him all at once along with being hit by what was essentially a truck into a tree had finally taken its toll on him. He then fell over to the ground face first but noticed that they had both gained another two levels each.

Zevela growled as her body was in pain as well from nearly being crushed to death but she would live past this. She had a few broken ribs but it would heal with time. She turned and saw that Tyrus writhing in pain on the ground clutching at his shoulders as he was dealing with the recoil as best he could. She ran up to him and kneeled next to him in a panic as she didn't know what to do at this point. "Tyrus! Come on! You have to live you bastard! You can't die on me now! I won't allow it damn you! You have a promise to fulfill to your comrades! You have a promise to fulfill to me!" As she was shouting in a panic, then a wave of exhaustion hit her all at once as she was once again drained of all her mana and her health was getting low as well.

The next thing she knew she had fell over next to the man and found that she was unable to move due to her exhaustion. She was cursing herself out for being so weak like this that any of this had ever actually happened in the first place. But these men had brought her back and had given her a second chance at life. She wasn't about to waste it here by dying like this. "Tyrus! Get your fucking ass up! Get a potion out! Anything! Didn't you say that we were going to get so strong that nothing could stop us?! Well prove to me you aren't full of bullshit and lies!" She was shouting to him to pull himself together as she could see him slowly but surely try his damnedest to do what needed to be done.

"Y…. You're absolutely right. This is nothing… I… We. We aren't done yet!" Tyrus growled out in pure pain as he slowly and painstakingly reached his hand for his weapon. He finally reached it after what felt like hours but was only minutes and produced several potions with different liquids inside of it. As quickly as he could, he pulled one to his lips and uncorked it. Then he drunk it and it felt as if all of his wounds were slowly ebbing away. He reached for another and downed it much quicker this time, then another after that. He then reached for one more finding his strength somewhat returning to him and helped Zevela drink this one.

"We are going to get stronger than this. So that nothing ever again gets taken from us, Zevela. I'm not going to let you down. I swear it." Tyrus called out to the woman as his broken body was slowly repairing itself into a stable enough condition to at least move. Although he was still suffering from major recoil and broken ribs, he would fight through the pain on adrenaline, potions, and willpower as best he could. "Take a quick rest Zevela. We are going to need to move soon. There could be more, but we won't let this stop us."

She finished the potion and looked up to the man with her one good eye with her trademark scowl on her face. "Just try and stop me from killing these little green freaks. There's no way in hell I'm letting this be the end of me."

**XxXxX**

**Ok and scene. I'm gonna call it here. I swear I could have gone on for much longer, but this was getting long enough as is. Well obviously I didn't get this up and going in the projected timeline I gave myself to punch this one out. This chapter is the equivalent of what Naofumi and Raphtalia went through with the Orthros (Two headed Dog) they fought in the mine outside of Ryuute Village.**

**As I stated at the start of this chapter, I had intended to push this chapter out before my birthday on July 24****th****. But due to circumstances, I'm pushing it out some time later on the 29****th**** while I'm in California on vacation. My cousin's birthday was yesterday on the 28****th**** so we are celebrating our birthdays together since we live on opposite sides of the US lol and tomorrow we're headed to the beach! For anyone that cares, I just turned 29 and my cousin turned 45. We're old lol but we're happy and having a blast.**

**I didn't exactly like how this chapter turned out at least towards the end because I couldn't find a good enough stopping point that I liked. So I had to leave it on a somewhat "bleh" ending I suppose. Well what did you all think of my fight scene? I'm a novice at best when it comes to writing fighting scenes as they aren't my strong suit. Let me know with reviews what you liked or disliked about them and how I can improve in the future.**

**I hope you all are doing well this summer and are staying hydrated because its hot as all hell out there. So ciao for now cool cats and kittens! **


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